Baseball Game Preview: Indian Lake Lakers vs. Urbana Hillclimbers

The Indian Lake Lakers will take on the Urbana Hillclimbers in a tournament on Wednesday. Indian Lake's pitching crew has only allowed 4.1 runs per game this season, so Urbana's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Indian Lake lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Anna, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Saturday's matchup. The Lakers were the clear victors by a 9-2 margin over the Rockets on Saturday. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Lakers as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.

Tyler Tidwell

Batters Struck Out (Career)

05/17/25 @ Anna	7
05/05/25 @ Benjamin Logan	4
05/09/25 @ Tecumseh	3
04/21/25 vs Northwestern	3
04/26/25 @ Minster	2

Tyler Tidwell made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out seven batters over six innings while giving up just two earned runs off seven hits (and only one walk). Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double.

Tidwell wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Madden Lillard, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI and one run. That's the most RBI Lillard has posted since back in April. Cooper Hall was another, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs.

Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Urbana ultimately got the result they hoped for on Saturday. They had just enough and edged out Bethel 2-1.

BJ Potter looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Urbana is 5-1 when Potter allows two or fewer earned runs, but 7-10 otherwise.

Urbana is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine games. That's provided a nice bump to their 12-11 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.3 runs over those games. As for Indian Lake, they now have a winning record of 11-10.

Indian Lake came up short against Urbana in their previous matchup back in April, falling 8-3. Can the Lakers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.