Baseball Game Preview: Osseo-Fairchild Thunder vs. Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs

The Osseo-Fairchild Thunder will head out to square off against the Melrose-Mindoro Mustangs at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Osseo-Fairchild 2.7, Melrose-Mindoro 3.7) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Osseo-Fairchild's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Monday's struggle, when Arcadia hitters got past them. The Thunder took an 11-7 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Raiders on Monday.

Meanwhile, Melrose-Mindoro entered their tilt with Blair-Taylor on Friday with six consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with seven. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 5-4 W against the Wildcats. That's two games straight that the Mustangs have won by just one run.

Jacob Thesing and Jayce Stetzer were major factors while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Thesing pitched five innings while giving up three earned runs off three hits. Meanwhile, Stetzer pitched two innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit. At the plate, Thesing went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI, while Stetzer went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs. That's the most stolen bases Stetzer has posted since back in April.

In other batting news, Brady Blaken was excellent, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April.

Melrose-Mindoro's victory was their ninth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-3. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs over those games. As for Osseo-Fairchild, their loss ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 11-4.

Osseo-Fairchild was able to grind out a solid victory over Melrose-Mindoro when the teams last played back in April, winning 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Thunder since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.