Baseball Game Preview: Hazel Green Trojans vs. Austin Black Bears

The Hazel Green Trojans will take on the Austin Black Bears at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Hazel Green's pitching crew has only allowed four runs per game this season, so Austin's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Hazel Green is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering Grissom just ended the team's 12-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of the Tigers by a score of 7-5. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Trojans have suffered since April 20, 2024.

Meanwhile, Austin was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their fifth straight loss. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 5-4 heartbreaker at the hands of Madison County.

Paxton Branum spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered four earned (and one unearned) runs on nine hits. That's the fewest earned runs he has allowed since back in February.

On the hitting side, Austin saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Riley Grigg, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Those two hits gave Grigg a new career-high.

Austin's defeat dropped their record down to 7-13. As for Hazel Green, their loss dropped their record down to 16-7.

Everything went Hazel Green's way against Austin in their previous meeting back in February, as Hazel Green made off with a 16-2 victory. Does Hazel Green have another victory up their sleeve, or will Austin turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.