Baseball Game Preview: Neuqua Valley Wildcats vs. Oswego Panthers

The Neuqua Valley Wildcats will square off against the Oswego Panthers at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Neuqua Valley is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They walked away with an 11-6 win over Naperville Central on Thursday. The game was the first time the Wildcats have beaten the Redhawks on their field since April 22, 2023.

The team relied heavily on Joe Barkley, who went 2-for-5 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Andy Barkley was another key player, going 3-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Neuqua Valley kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They are 2-1 when they post 11 or more hits.

Meanwhile, Oswego came tearing into Thursday's game with seven straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4.9 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They came out on top against the Spartans by a score of 6-2.

Oswego's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-1. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.8 runs on average over those games. As for Neuqua Valley, their victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-2 and their overall record up to 3-7-1.

Neuqua Valley couldn't quite finish off Oswego when the teams last played back in April of 2024 and fell 10-8. Will the Wildcats 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.