Baseball Game Preview: Liberal Redskins vs. Great Bend Panthers

Liberal is 2-8 against Great Bend since April of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Redskins will look to defend their home field against the Panthers at 4:00 p.m. Liberal has given up an average of 9.2 runs per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Liberal is headed into Friday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their third straight game on Tuesday. They lost 13-2 to Eisenhower. The game marked the Redskins' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.

For whatever reason, it's the away team that's had the advantage when Great Bend and Dodge City meet (five straight games heading into this one) and that held true again on Monday. The Panthers never let the Demons get on the board and left with an 8-0 win. The Panthers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matchups by six runs or more this season.

Carson Umphres made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 11 over seven innings pitched. Those 11 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played.

In other batting news, Daxton Minton and Koehn Ribordy did most of the damage at the plate: Minton scored three runs while going 2-for-3, while Ribordy went 3-for-4 with four RBI, one stolen base, and one double. The dominant performance also gave Minton a new career-high in doubles (two). Trenton Kern was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.

Great Bend hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Dodge City struck out 11 times.

Great Bend pushed their record up to 6-1 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Liberal, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-5.

Liberal suffered a grim 6-0 defeat to Great Bend in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Will the Redskins have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.