Baseball Game Preview: Meridian Wildcats vs. Northwest Rankin Cougars

For the second straight game, Meridian will face off against Northwest Rankin. The Wildcats will be playing in front of their home fans against the Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Meridian has given up an average of 10.3 runs per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Meridian is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 19 runs on Saturday, they were much more limited against Northwest Rankin on Tuesday. They lost 11-1 to the Cougars. The Wildcats haven't had much luck with the Cougars recently, as the team has come up short the last three times they've met.

For Northwest Rankin's part, Jackson Meehan looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meehan is becoming a predictor of the Cougars' success: when he allows at most two earned runs the team is 4-2 (and 6-10-1 when he doesn't).

At the plate, Brady Saxton was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. The team also got some help courtesy of Gabe Hodges, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and four RBI.

Northwest Rankin always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .560. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Meridian only posted an OBP of .350.

The victory made it two in a row for Northwest Rankin and bumps their season record up to 10-12-1. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered a grand total of 5 runs in those games. As for Meridian, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-15.