Baseball Game Preview: Grand Valley Mustangs vs. Bristol Panthers

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Previous 3 Games

04/10/18 - Neutral	7-2 W
04/19/17 - Away	14-0 W
05/15/15 - Away	8-3 W

Grand Valley has gone a perfect 3-0 against Bristol recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Mustangs will head out on the road to face off against the Panthers at 5:00 p.m. Grand Valley will be looking to extend their current eight-game winning streak.

While Grand Valley's win against Mathews wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. Grand Valley skirted past Mathews 2-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory Grand Valley has posted since May 2, 2024.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Bristol). Everything went their way against Conneaut on Thursday as they made off with a 25-1 win. With that victory, the Panthers brought their scoring average up to 7.3 runs per game.

Bristol let Ethan Kimak and Keifer Swager run wild. Kimak went 1-for-4 with four runs, two stolen bases, and four RBI, while Swager went a perfect 4-for-4 with four runs, three RBI, and one double. Kimak continues to improve, besting his previous run total in each of the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Christian Van Ness, who got on base in three of his five plate appearances with three runs and three RBI.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Bristol kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That's the most hits they've posted since the start of last season.

Grand Valley's win was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-2. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.6 runs on average over those games. As for Bristol, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-7 record this season.

Grand Valley beat Bristol 7-2 in their previous meeting back in April of 2018. Do the Mustangs have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Panthers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.