Baseball Game Preview: Bloomington South Panthers vs. Bloomington North Cougars

An exciting North v. South battle is about to be fought. The Bloomington South Panthers will venture away from home to take on the Bloomington North Cougars at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Bloomington South's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Bloomington North's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Bloomington South will bounce into Thursday's contest after beating Columbus North, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Panthers came out on top against the Bull Dogs by a score of 4-1 on Wednesday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Collin Marcum spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on four hits and racked up nine Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Bloomington South let Connor Osborne and Connor Couch run wild. Osborne went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI, while Couch went 1-for-2 with one home run and two RBI. Those two RBI gave Couch a new career-high.

Bloomington South lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.

Meanwhile, Bloomington North's hitters rose to the challenge against a Thunderbirds pitching crew that boasted an average of only 3.74 runs allowed on Wednesday. The Cougars put the hurt on Eastern Greene with a sharp 14-3 victory. Considering the Cougars have won eight games by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Bloomington South has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 11 of their last 12 matchups. That's provided a massive bump to their 12-6 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.5 runs on average over those games. As for Bloomington North, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 10-7.

Bloomington South came out on top in a nail-biter against Bloomington North in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.