Baseball Game Preview: Croatan Cougars vs. Dixon Bulldogs

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Previous Games

03/28/25 - Home	11-2 W
04/25/24 - Home	6-2 W
04/12/24 - Away	5-4 W
05/02/23 - Away	10-0 W
04/18/23 - Home	7-12 L
+ 5 more games

Croatan has gone 9-1 against Dixon recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Cougars will challenge the Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. Croatan is coming into the contest on a three-game losing streak.

Croatan is headed into the match having just suffered their biggest defeat since April 7th on Tuesday. They lost 8-2 to Swansboro.

Croatan saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Nathan Griffin, who went 1-for-3 with one run. Cole Walters also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

Dixon came out on top against White Oak on Tuesday thanks in part to the team's impressive six-run first inning. The Bulldogs' pitcher stepped up to hand the Vikings an 11-0 shutout. The win continues a trend for the Bulldogs in their matchups with the Vikings: they've now won four in a row.

Grady Barnes tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Dixon is 3-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 8-10 otherwise.

At the plate, Nick Lacugna was a standout: he went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. Another player making a difference was Bryson Ponsock, who went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI.

Dixon always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .516. The last time their OBP was this high was back in March.

The victory got Dixon back to even at 11-11. As for Croatan, their loss dropped their record down to 8-12.

Croatan took their win against Dixon in their previous meeting back in March by a conclusive 11-2 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Cougars since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.