vs
| 04/19/24 - Home | 0-4 L |
| 04/16/24 - Away | 0-1 L |
| 03/08/24 - Neutral | 8-4 W |
| 04/21/23 - Away | 17-7 W |
| 04/18/23 - Home | 5-0 W |
| + 5 more games |
East Nicolaus and Winters are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2017, but likely not for long. The Spartans will challenge the Warriors at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
East Nicolaus is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Lincoln just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Saturday. They lost 13-1 to the Fighting Zebras. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Spartans have suffered since March 3rd.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Winters). They blew past Pierce 19-2 on Friday. The win continues a trend for the Warriors in their matchups with the Bears: they've now won nine in a row.
Miles Mariani and Boston Jones made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Mariani pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Jones struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Winters is 2-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 5-8 otherwise. At bat, Mariani scored four runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3, while Jones scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2. Those three hits gave Mariani a new career-high.
In other batting news, Winters got a massive performance out of Julian Herrera, who scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. Herrera has been hot, having posted at least one stolen base the last five times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Derrick Collins, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3.
Winters always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .571. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .516 or higher in three consecutive contests.
Winters' victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 7-9. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.7 runs over those games. As for East Nicolaus, their loss dropped their record down to 8-6.
The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Tuesday as neither team is afraid to steal. East Nicolaus has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 2.7 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Winters struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 4.4 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more.
East Nicolaus came up short against Winters in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, falling 4-0. Can the Spartans avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
