Baseball Game Preview: Waterloo Bulldogs vs. Mater Dei Knights

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Previous Games

04/12/24 - Away	10-0 W
04/14/23 - Home	11-7 W
04/14/21 - Home	3-5 L
04/12/19 - Away	3-4 L
05/05/18 - Away	22-2 W
+ 5 more games

Waterloo is 8-2 against Mater Dei since May of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Bulldogs will welcome the Knights at 4:30 p.m.

Fans were treated to a battle of the Bulldogs on Monday. Waterloo fell just short of Highland by a score of 4-3.

Meanwhile, Mater Dei came into Monday's match having lost four straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They never let Granite City get on the board and left with a 10-0 victory on Monday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Knights considering their two-run performance the game before.

Not much got past Ethan Wheelan, who gave up just three hits and racked up seven Ks to keep Granite City off the board. Wheelan also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Mater Dei is 2-1 when he allows at most two earned runs, but 2-11 otherwise.

At the plate, Mater Dei let Brady Salzman and Johnny Hilmes run wild. Salzman went 2-for-3 with one home run, two stolen bases, and three runs, while Hilmes went a perfect 2-for-2 with four stolen bases, two runs, and two doubles. Those three runs gave Salzman a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Hunter Horn, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.

Mater Dei's win bumped their record up to 4-12. As for Waterloo, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-7.

Everything went Waterloo's way against Mater Dei when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Waterloo made off with a 10-0 victory. Do the Bulldogs have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Knights turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.