Baseball Game Preview: Axtell Longhorns vs. Tom Bean Tomcats

For the second straight game, Axtell will face off against Tom Bean. The Longhorns will take on the Tomcats at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Axtell's pitching crew has only allowed 1.5 runs per game this season, so Tom Bean's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Axtell heads in on the heels of a playoff game on Thursday. They fell just short of Tom Bean by a score of 1-0. The match marked the first time this season in which the Longhorns were not able to get on the board.

For Tom Bean's part, Axtell's batters probably weren't too happy with Keaton Reed, who pitched a no hitter (he gave up three walks). Reed has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in nine consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Tom Bean saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Donnie Hooten, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one double.

Tom Bean is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 23-8 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Axtell, they moved to 29-2 with that defeat, which also ended their four-game winning streak.