Baseball Game Preview: Homestead Spartans vs. Bellmont Braves

The Homestead Spartans will square off against the Bellmont Braves at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Homestead will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.

If Homestead beats Bellmont with five runs on Thursday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. The Spartans walked away with a 5-2 win over Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger on Wednesday.

Mason Gutmann looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over four innings pitched.

On the hitting side, Luke Neiswonger was incredible, going 2-for-4 with one home run, one stolen base, and two RBI. Those RBI marked the first that he brought in this season. Will Karshner was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-2.

Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn't the day for Bellmont's offense. They fell 4-0 to Adams Central on Tuesday. The Braves have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Bellmont saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Layne LeMaster, who went 1-for-4 with one stolen base.

Bellmont now has a losing record of 1-2. As for Homestead, their victory bumped their record up to 5-1.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Homestead has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 10.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Bellmont struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Homestead came out on top in a nail-biter against Bellmont in their previous matchup back in April of 2023, sneaking past 9-8. Will the Spartans repeat their success, or do the Braves have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.