Baseball Game Preview: Mabel-Canton Cougars vs. Houston Hurricanes

The Mabel-Canton Cougars will head out on the road to square off against the Houston Hurricanes at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Houston took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Mabel-Canton, who comes in off a win.

Mabel-Canton's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They walked away with a 3-0 win over Grand Meadow/Kingsland/LeRoy-Ostrander. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Cougars.

The result came thanks to Darian Hershberger's shutout, as he gave up just five hits and racked up six Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Mabel-Canton secured the victory behind a pair of hitters. One of them was Kale Tollefsrud, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Houston lost 14-2 to Southland on Tuesday. The Hurricanes have struggled against the Rebels recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive lost meeting.

Houston's defeat dropped their record down to 6-10. As for Mabel-Canton, their win bumped their record up to 8-10.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Mabel-Canton has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Houston struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Mabel-Canton couldn't quite get it done against Houston when the teams last played back in March as they fell 3-0. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.