The Jasper Wildcats will square off against the Daviess County Panthers at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Jasper will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
On Friday, Jasper needed a bit of extra time to put away Evansville Reitz. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Panthers 5-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Wildcats have posted since May 21, 2024.
Jasper saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brianna Barrix, who went 2-for-5 with one triple, one run, and one double. Ayla Elkins was another, going 2-for-4 with three runs.
Meanwhile, Daviess County got the win against Castle on Friday by a conclusive 13-1. Considering the Panthers have won eight games by more than nine runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
The team relied heavily on Kylie Clark, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. That's the most runs she has posted since back in March. Danielle Beckwith also deserves some recognition as she brought in her first RBI of the season.
Daviess County was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .609. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.
Daviess County is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-2 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.1 runs on average over those games. As for Jasper, their win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 8-3.
Saturday's matchup will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Jasper hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .352. However, it's not like Daviess County struggles in that department as they've averaged .385. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Jasper suffered a grim 14-3 defeat to Daviess County in their previous meeting back in April of 2023. Can the Wildcats avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
