Mankato East vs. Winona
5 p.m., Thursday, April 27

Watch out for Mankato East when the bats are going. The Cougars (4-3, 2-1) have scored 14 or more runs in three of their four victories. Conversely, Mankato East has just one run in its three losses.

Makenzie Hendley hit a two-run double to beat Cretin-Derham Hall 7-6 on April 21, but the Cougars got shut out 8-0 in their next game against Farmington. Mankato East will hope the bats show up against Winona, especially with the level of pitching the Cougars will be facing. 

Few teams get much to hit when facing Winona’s Ashton Hoeppner, but Mankato West and Rochester Mayo managed to put up some runs on her recently. The Scarlets won 10-6 on April 17, although six of the runs were unearned, while the Spartans edged the Winhawks (3-3, 3-3) 1-0 on April 18.

Winona, currently sixth in the Big 9 Conference, will need wins from both of its league games this week if the Winhawks are going to climb into the conference title race.