Baseball Game Preview: South Bulldogs vs. Marion-Franklin Red Devils

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Previous Games

05/14/26 - Away	6-7 L
04/13/26 - Home	7-9 L
04/28/25 - Away	13-16 L
04/02/25 - Home	17-7 W
05/02/24 - Away	24-12 W
+ 5 more games

South and Marion-Franklin are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2019, but likely not for long. The Bulldogs will host the Red Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Marion-Franklin took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on South, who comes in off a win.

South was handed a seven-run defeat in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Monday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Walnut Ridge, sneaking past 9-8.

Meanwhile, Marion-Franklin came up short against Eastmoor Academy on Tuesday and fell 10-6. The loss continues a trend for the Red Devils in their meetings with the Warriors: they've now lost seven in a row.

Marion-Franklin got a good showing from Chris Lucero, who tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. The dominant performance also gave Lucero a new career-low in walks (zero).

On the hitting side, Maxin Warner made the most of his time in the batter's box despite the final result and went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last nine games he's played. Another player making a difference was Makhi Ali, who went 1-for-4 with three RBI and one double.

Marion-Franklin's defeat dropped their record down to 4-8-1. As for South, their victory bumped their record up to 8-12.