Southwestern has enjoyed the comforts of home their last five games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will face off against the Milan Indians at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Southwestern's pitching crew has only allowed 3.7 runs per game this season, so Milan's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Southwestern is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 19 runs on Saturday, they were much more limited against Brown County on Saturday. They took a 5-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Eagles.
Southwestern saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Ashley Fulton, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with a home run.
Meanwhile, Milan put the finishing touches on their ninth blowout victory of the season on Wednesday. They put the hurt on South Ripley with a sharp 9-3 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Milan.
Kynadee Bode was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, she struck out 13 batters over seven innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits. Bode has been consistent recently: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in seven consecutive pitching appearances. Bode was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of her five plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mallory Eaglin, who got on base in three of her four plate appearances with a home run, two runs, and two RBI. Tryniti Reed was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in all four of her plate appearances.
Southwestern's defeat dropped their record down to 12-6. As for Milan, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-10 record this season.
Thursday's contest will be a test for both team's pitchers. Southwestern hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .363. However, it's not like Milan struggles in that department as they've averaged .330. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Southwestern came up short against Milan when the teams last played two weeks ago, falling 5-1. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Bode, who struck out 13 batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Now that Southwestern knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
