Baseball Game Preview: Columbian Tornadoes vs. Liberty-Benton Eagles

The Columbian Tornadoes will square off against the Liberty-Benton Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Columbian came out on top against Clyde on Wednesday thanks in part to the team's impressive five-run sixth inning. The Tornadoes put the hurt on the Fliers with a sharp 7-1 win. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Tornadoes have posted against the Fliers since May 5, 2021.

Isaiah Tilse spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on three hits and racked up ten Ks. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Columbian is 3-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 2-8 otherwise.

Blake Gaulden

Runs (Career)

05/07/25 @ Clyde	2
04/30/25 @ Bellevue	1
04/21/25 @ Colonel Crawford	1
03/29/25 @ Ashland	1

On the hitting side, Jamison Woessner and Blake Gaulden did most of the damage at the plate: Woessner got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one double, while Gaulden went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. Those two runs gave Gaulden a new career-high.

Meanwhile, Liberty-Benton came tearing into Wednesday's matchup with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.2 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They never let the Rockets get on the board and left with an 11-0 win. The result was nothing new for the Eagles, who have now won 11 games by seven runs or more so far this season.

Liberty-Benton's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-3. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Columbian, their victory bumped their record up to 5-9.

Columbian couldn't quite finish off Liberty-Benton in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 and fell 4-2. Will the Tornadoes have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.