Behind strong pitching, Middle Creek and Holly Springs split their conference series this week, with back-to-back games that ended on Friday night.

Middle Creek beat Holly Springs 4-0 on the road on Friday, one night after the Golden Hawks claimed a 1-0 win in eight innings.

Neither team scored until the sixth inning on Friday night. After Garrett Sladek got to third base after a wild pitch and an error by the Hawks, Gabe Murray hit a sacrifice fly to center field allowing Sladek to tag up and get home, finally getting one of the teams on the scoreboard.

Brady Pierson managed to get on base after hitting a fly ball and a corresponding Holly Springs error, then Austin Weber hit a single allowing Pierson to score.

Middle Creek led 2-0 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, where they Mustangs put Holly Springs down in order.

The Mustangs added two more runs in the seventh inning, giving them extra cushion. With two outs, Will Tobin hit a single to bring Caden MIner home. Tobin scored on a wild pitch after the Hawks walked Murray, giving Middle Creek a 4-0 lead.

Holly Springs loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Casey Murray got a strikeout on the mound and the final batter grounded out to second base to end the game.

Gabe Murray pitched 5.0 innings for Middle Creek, striking out six batters and allowing just two hits. Casey Murray pitched 2.0 innings for the Mustangs and recorded two strikeouts with zero hits allowed.

Holly Springs’ pitching was alos strong. Anthony Zezza had seven strikeouts on the night after facing 25 batters in 6.0 innings pitched. Zezza allowed two hits and two runs.

A total of five errors on the part of Holly Springs helped doom the Golden Hawks.

Middle Creek (7-3, 3-3 Southwest Wake 4A Conference) ended a two-game losing streak with the win on Friday. The Mustangs return to play on Mar. 25 with another conference road game at Cary.

Holly Springs (7-4, 5-2 Southwest Wake 4A Conference) entered the week ranked No. 6 in the HighSchoolOT 919 Top 15 Rankings. The Golden Hawks will travel to conference foe Green Level on Mar. 25.

On Thursday night, Holly Springs got a single by Noah Rhoades in the top of the eighth inning, allowing Gavin Williams to score the game-winning run. The Hawks beat Middle Creek 1-0 in that game.