Baseball Game Preview: Red Oak Tigers vs. Creston Panthers

The Red Oak Tigers will head out to square off against the Creston Panthers at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Red Oak's pitching crew has only allowed 3.8 runs per game this season, so Creston's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Red Oak fell victim to Shenandoah and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They took a 3-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Mustangs. The Tigers haven't had much luck with the Mustangs recently, as the team has come up short the last six times they've met.

Meanwhile, Creston had already won four in a row and they went ahead and made it five on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Trojans as they made off with a 12-4 win. The Panthers not only won on Tuesday, but they posted their biggest win since July 1, 2024 (when they won 13-2).

Creston's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-7. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.3 runs over those games. As for Red Oak, their loss dropped their record down to 7-5.

Red Oak skirted past Creston 3-2 when the teams last played two weeks ago. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tigers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.