Baseball Game Preview: Bearden Bulldogs vs. Maryville Red Rebels

The Bearden Bulldogs will square off against the Maryville Red Rebels at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Bearden's pitching crew has only allowed 3.6 runs per game this season, so Maryville's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

If Bearden beats Maryville with five runs on Thursday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. The Bulldogs walked away with a 5-1 victory over Knoxville Central last Tuesday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, Maryville waltzed into their matchup on Wednesday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 6-5 W against the Rebels. That's two games straight that the Red Rebels have won by just one run.

The team relied heavily on Cohen Babelay, who went 3-for-4 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.

Maryville hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as West struck out six times.

Bearden pushed their record up to 28-6 with the win, which was their 12th straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.2 runs on average over those games. As for Maryville, their win bumped their record up to 20-15-1.

Bearden took their victory against Maryville in their previous matchup back in April by a conclusive 7-0 score. Will the Bulldogs repeat their success, or do the Red Rebels have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.