Baseball Game Preview: Red Bud Musketeers vs. Sparta Bulldogs

The Red Bud Musketeers will head out on the road to square off against the Sparta Bulldogs at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Red Bud is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.2 runs per game this season.

Red Bud will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one run on Monday, then bounced right back against Sparta on Tuesday. The Musketeers blew past the Bulldogs 11-3. The Musketeers have beaten the Bulldogs the last three times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Bulldogs has come to flipping the script.

Lucas Schwartzkopf was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April. Nolan Schneider also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.

Red Bud pushed their record up to 16-5 with the win, which was their ninth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.9 runs on average over those games. As for Sparta, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 9-13.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Red Bud has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Sparta struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.3 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.