Cooper is on a three-game streak of home losses, Bland a six-game streak of away losses (dating back to last season), but someone's luck is about to change. The Cooper Bulldogs will take on the Bland Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Last Friday, it was a hard-fought contest, but Cooper had to settle for a 6-4 defeat against Sam Rayburn.
Jaret Slakey was huge while hitting and pitching even without the win. He pitched five innings while giving up just two earned (and four unearned) runs off six hits. Slakey has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in four consecutive pitching appearances. Slakey was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, Devin Dial was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Bland didn't have quite enough to beat Celeste last Friday and fell 3-2.
Like Cooper, Bland also got a great game from a two-way player: Fernando Saenz. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over 6.1 innings while giving up three earned runs off four hits. Saenz was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Saenz wasn't the only one making solid contact as two players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Ashton Stiggers, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with a stolen base and a double.
Cooper's loss dropped their record down to 13-10. As for Bland, their defeat dropped their record down to 2-13.
Everything went Cooper's way against Bland in their previous matchup back in April of 2023 as Cooper made off with a 9-2 win. Does Cooper have another victory up their sleeve, or will Bland turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
