Baseball Game Preview: Southern Wells Raiders vs. Bluffton Tigers

Raiders

Runs

04/24/25 vs Adams Central	1
04/22/25 vs Southwood	11
04/21/25 @ South Adams	8
04/16/25 @ Eastbrook	9
04/14/25 @ Mississinewa	9
+ 5 more games

Southern Wells is 1-9 against Bluffton since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Raiders will head out to square off against the Tigers at 5:00 p.m. Southern Wells is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.8 runs per game this season.

Southern Wells is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 11 runs on Tuesday, they were much more limited against Adams Central on Thursday. They came up short against the Flying Jets, falling 13-1. The matchup marked the Raiders' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Jakob Gearheart was cooking despite his team's loss, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one double. That double marked the first that he has hit this season.

Meanwhile, Bluffton had just enough and edged out South Adams 7-5 on Thursday. The Tigers haven't had any issues with the Starfires recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive win against them.

Bluffton's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Cameron Williams, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, one double, and one RBI. Those two hits gave Williams a new career-high.

Bluffton's win bumped their record up to 9-5. As for Southern Wells, their defeat dropped their record down to 7-3.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Tuesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Southern Wells has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.1 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Bluffton struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 6.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Southern Wells suffered a grim 14-1 defeat to Bluffton in their previous matchup back in May of 2024. Can the Raiders avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.