Baseball Game Preview: Knightstown Panthers vs. Southwestern Spartans

The Knightstown Panthers will head out to square off against the Southwestern Spartans at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Knightstown has seven straight victories, Southwestern has three straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Knightstown had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 15-run drubbing they dealt Tri on Saturday. The Panthers put the hurt on the Titans with a sharp 17-2 win. The Panthers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 15 games by seven runs or more this season.

Carter Gossett looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run but no hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Jackson Daves, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Bryce Marrow also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

Meanwhile, Southwestern came up short against North Decatur on Friday, falling 11-1.

Knightstown's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-3. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.5 runs over those games. As for Southwestern, they now have a losing record of 6-7.

Everything went Knightstown's way against Southwestern when the teams last played back in April of 2016, as Knightstown made off with a 10-1 victory. Do the Panthers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Spartans turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.