Baseball Game Preview: Norfolk Panthers vs. Lincoln North Star Navigators

The Norfolk Panthers will head out on the road to challenge the Lincoln North Star Navigators at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Norfolk came into this matchup off a tough eight-run loss on Friday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of Gretna by a score of 6-4 on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Panthers have suffered since April 10, 2024.

Norfolk got a good showing from Carter Mickelson, who tossed three innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.

Braylon Votta

Hits (Career)

03/25/25 @ Gretna	2
03/20/25 vs Columbus	1
04/17/24 vs Papillion-LaVista	1
04/10/24 vs Lincoln North Star	1
04/08/24 vs Lincoln Southeast	1

On the hitting side, Braylon Votta made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-4 with three RBI and one double. Those two hits gave him a new career-high.

Meanwhile, Lincoln North Star posted their closest victory since April 6, 2024 on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged out Fremont 9-8.

The team relied heavily on Jayden Johnson, who scored a run while going 2-for-3. Another player making a difference was Jameson Lantz, who scored a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.

Lincoln North Star's record is now 2-0. As for Norfolk, they now have a losing record of 1-2.

Norfolk couldn't quite finish off Lincoln North Star when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 3-1. Can Norfolk avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.