Baseball Game Preview: Eau Claire North Huskies vs. Hudson Raiders

For the second straight game, Eau Claire North will face off against Hudson. The Huskies will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Raiders at 5:00 p.m.

Eau Claire North is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Hudson just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Tuesday. They fell just short of the Raiders by a score of 4-3.

For Hudson's part, Bennett Brathol was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Brathol has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two hits in nine consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI.

In other pitching news, Mark Susa tossed a big game, pitching five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off four hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.

Back at the plate, Jace Mataczynski was excellent, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Silas Heisler, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one RBI.

Hudson kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least ten hits in three consecutive contests.

Hudson is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven games. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.6 runs on average over those games. As for Eau Claire North, they now have a losing record of 10-11.