The Northwestern Tigers will square off against the Kokomo Wildkats at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Northwestern is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.9 runs per game this season.
Northwestern's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They were the clear victors by a 17-0 margin over Southwood. Considering the Tigers have won six contests by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Landen Begley
| 04/30/25 @ Southwood | 4 |
| 04/04/25 @ Eastern | 2 |
| 04/23/25 @ Whitko | 1 |
| 04/21/25 @ Sheridan | 1 |
| 04/17/25 @ Oak Hill | 1 |
Landen Begley made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run over 4.1 innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Northwestern let Hayden Cook and Michael Arrick run wild. Cook went a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs, two RBI, and one double, while Arrick went 2-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and one double. Those four hits gave Cook a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jax Hanson, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, one run, and one double.
Northwestern always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .605. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Southwood only posted an OBP of .312.
Meanwhile, Kokomo entered their tilt with McCutcheon on Tuesday with six consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with seven. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 3-2 W against the Mavericks. Three seems to be a good number for the Wildkats as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Brighton Harris spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on four hits.
At the plate, Kokomo saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jonathon Frye, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Those RBI marked the first that Frye has brought in this season. Another was J.J. Gillespie, who went 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI.
Kokomo's win was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-4. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Northwestern, their win bumped their record up to 10-4.
Kokomo's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Northwestern hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .321. It's a different story for Kokomo, though, as they've only averaged .252. Will they be able to contain Northwestern's hitters? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
