The Marquette Catholic Explorers will head out on the road to square off against the Collinsville Kahoks at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Marquette Catholic will be strutting in after a victory while Collinsville will be coming in after a defeat.
Marquette Catholic barely beat Granite City the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Explorers put the hurt on the Warriors with a sharp 10-4 win on Friday. The Explorers haven't had any issues with the Warriors recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.
Joe Stephan
| 04/11/25 @ Granite City | 7 |
| 03/21/25 vs Gibault Catholic | 7 |
Joe Stephan made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out seven batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off one hit. That's the most strikeouts he has posted over his last two games. He was also big at the plate, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Keller Jacobs, who scored three runs while going 3-for-4. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Will Fahnestock, who scored three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Marquette Catholic kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in four consecutive matchups.
Meanwhile, Collinsville didn't have quite enough to beat Sacred Heart-Griffin on Saturday and fell 4-3. The Kahoks have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Collinsville saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Adam Bovinett, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI.
Marquette Catholic's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-4. Those road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.8 runs on average over those games. As for Collinsville, their loss dropped their record down to 4-7.
Monday's contest will be a test for both teams' pitchers. Marquette Catholic hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .318. However, it's not like Collinsville struggles in that department as they've averaged .325. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.
