Baseball Game Preview: Stover Bulldogs vs. Sacred Heart Gremlins

Stover hasn't had much luck against Sacred Heart recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Bulldogs will host the Gremlins at 5:00 p.m. Sacred Heart took a loss in their last matchup and will be looking to turn the tables on Stover, who comes in off a win.

Stover headed into their last contest having not scored more than two runs for three straight, but Smithton let them put that streak behind them. The Bulldogs walked away with an 11-6 win over the Tigers on Tuesday. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Bulldogs' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.

Jaxon Simon and Luke Viebrock made a big impact while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Simon struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (and only one walk). Meanwhile, Viebrock didn't allow a single earned run while striking out eight over four innings pitched. At bat, Simon scored three runs and stole three bases while going 1-for-3, while Viebrock scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.

In other batting news, Stover got a massive performance out of Parker Nardi, who scored three runs and stole three bases while going 3-for-4. Dustin Koeller was another key player, scoring a run and stealing three bases while going 3-for-3.

Stover was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .387. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Sacred Heart came up short against Eugene on Monday and fell 8-4.

Sacred Heart now has a losing record of 3-4. As for Stover, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-6.

Stover might still be hurting after the 15-2 defeat they got from Sacred Heart in their previous matchup back in May of 2023. Can the Bulldogs avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.