Baseball Game Preview: Oscar Smith Tigers vs. Western Branch Bruins

Oscar Smith hasn't had much luck against Western Branch recently, but that could start to change on Tuesday. The Tigers will head out to challenge the Bruins at 5:45 p.m. Western Branch took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Oscar Smith, who comes in off a win.

Oscar Smith barely beat Indian River the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Tigers' pitchers stepped up to hand the Braves a 7-0 shutout on Thursday. The Tigers haven't had any issues with the Braves recently, as the game was their fourth consecutive win against them.

Donte Brooks Jr. was excellent, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Oscar Smith kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Indian River only managed one hit.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Western Branch and Hickory meet (three straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Thursday. The Bruins fell just short of the Hawks by a score of 2-1. Having soared to a lofty ten runs in the game before, the Bruins couldn't push the score so high this time.

Ian Taylor spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on six hits.

On the hitting side, Western Branch saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Markel Smith, who went 1-for-3 with one run.

Oscar Smith's victory bumped their record up to 9-7. As for Western Branch, their defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 12-5.