The Burke Bulldogs will venture away from home to face off against the Kearney Bearcats at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Burke was handed a 12-run defeat in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Monday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Bellevue East 2-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Bulldogs have posted since April 5th.
Brayden Pickett spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on six hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in six consecutive appearances.
At the plate, Burke saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brady Stanley, who went 1-for-2 with one run and one double.
Meanwhile, Kearney came tearing into Saturday's matchup with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.7 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 3-1 victory over the Panthers.
Griffin Novacek was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Novacek was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI.
In other pitching news, Kash Fosher looked comfortable as he pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four).
Kearney's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-9. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.7 runs on average over those games. As for Burke, their record now sits at 8-17.
Everything went Burke's way against Kearney in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, as Burke made off with a 12-5 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bulldogs since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
