Baseball Game Preview: Hillsboro Hiltoppers vs. Gillespie Miners

Hillsboro is 2-8 against Gillespie since May of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Wednesday. The Hiltoppers will take on the Miners at 4:30 p.m. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.

Hillsboro took a loss when they played away from home on Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged out Litchfield 2-1. The victory was some much needed relief for the Hiltoppers as it spelled an end to their five-game losing streak.

Nathan Matoush

Batters Struck Out

05/13/25 vs Litchfield	16
05/09/25 @ Carlinville	5
04/29/25 vs North Mac	14
04/18/25 vs Vandalia	18
04/11/25 vs Southwestern	16
+ 3 more games

Nathan Matoush spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on one hit and racked up 16 Ks. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 5.1 strikeouts per game.

On the hitting side, Hillsboro saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Clayton Rufus, who went 1-for-2 with one run.

Meanwhile, Gillespie sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 win over Southwestern on Tuesday.

The team relied heavily on Luke Schuckenbrock, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs. Gillespie is undefeated when Schuckenbrock posts two or more runs, but 5-8 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Jack Kaylor, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one double.

Gillespie is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 14-8 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.9 runs over those games. As for Hillsboro, their record now sits at 3-17.

Hillsboro suffered a grim 10-0 defeat to Gillespie in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Hiltoppers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.