Baseball Game Preview: Normal University Pioneers vs. Normal Community Ironmen

The Normal University Pioneers will take on the Normal Community Ironmen at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Normal Community will challenge a team with plenty of momentum: Normal University extended their winning streak to five on Tuesday. The Pioneers were the clear victors by a 19-1 margin over Lanphier.

Meanwhile, Normal Community had already won seven in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6.7 runs) and they went ahead and made it eight on Monday. They never let the Tigers get on the board and left with a 16-0 victory.

Chase Hendren made a splash while hitting and pitching. He pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Hendren was also big at the plate, going a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs and one double. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April.

In other batting news, Brady Burkhart was incredible, going a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run and four RBI. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Jacob Engel was another key player, going 1-for-2 with three RBI and one run.

Normal Community was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .414 or higher in five consecutive games.

Normal Community's win was their 14th straight at home, which pushed their record up to 22-4. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Normal University, their win bumped their record up to 19-4.

Normal University came out on top in a nail-biter against Normal Community in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, sneaking past 6-4. Will the Pioneers repeat their success, or do the Ironmen have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.