Baseball Game Preview: Bend Lava Bears vs. Wilsonville Wildcats

Bend has won seven straight games at home (dating back to last season), while Wilsonville has won seven straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Thursday. The Lava Bears will welcome the Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. The last four games Bend has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.

On Tuesday, Bend needed a bit of extra time to put away Lake Oswego. They beat the Lakers by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 6-5. While the Lava Bears didn't have the best season last year (they finished 12-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Cash Hattenhauer

Batters Struck Out

04/08/25 vs Lake Oswego	5
04/03/25 @ Lebanon	9
03/26/25 @ Apollo	5

Cash Hattenhauer made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off seven hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-4 with one home run. That home run marked the first that he launched this season.

Hattenhauer wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Will Goodman, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI. That stolen base was Goodman's first of the season. Mason Pendergast was another, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

Meanwhile, Wilsonville got the win against Caldera on Friday by a conclusive 18-5. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won five games by six runs or more so far this season.

Bend has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-2 record this season. As for Wilsonville, their win bumped their record up to 9-0.