Baseball Game Preview: Oswego Panthers vs. Neuqua Valley Wildcats

The Oswego Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Neuqua Valley Wildcats at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Oswego will be looking to extend their current eight-game winning streak.

On Thursday, Oswego beat Romeoville 6-2.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Neuqua Valley). They walked away with an 11-6 win over Naperville Central on Thursday. The game was the first time the Wildcats have beaten the Redhawks on their field since April 22, 2023.

The team relied heavily on Joe Barkley, who went 2-for-5 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Andy Barkley was another key player, going 3-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Neuqua Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They are 2-1 when they post 11 or more hits.

Oswego pushed their record up to 14-1 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.8 runs on average over those games. As for Neuqua Valley, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-7-1.

Oswego skirted past Neuqua Valley 10-8 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Panthers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.