Baseball Game Preview: Illini Bluffs Tigers vs. Mt. Pulaski Hilltoppers

Tigers

Runs

04/23/25 vs Knoxville	14
04/19/25 vs Henry-Senachwine	2
04/17/25 @ Brimfield	2
04/14/25 vs Williamsfield	3
+ 7 more games

Illini Bluffs and Mt. Pulaski are an even 4-4 against one another since April of 2015, but likely not for long. The Tigers will head out to square off against the Hilltoppers at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Illini Bluffs is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8 runs per game this season.

Illini Bluffs barely beat Knoxville the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Tigers put the hurt on the Blue Bullets with a sharp 14-4 win on Wednesday. The Tigers not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since March 26th (when they won 28-0).

Illini Bluffs got a massive performance out of Drew Dunn, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. Those three RBI gave Dunn a new career-high. Easton Snyder was another key player, going a perfect 1-for-1 with two stolen bases, two RBI, and one run.

Illini Bluffs was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .393. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, after a string of ten wins, Mt. Pulaski's good fortune finally ran out on Tuesday. They fell just short of Heyworth by a score of 4-2. Having soared to a lofty ten runs in the game before, the Hilltoppers couldn't push the score so high this time.

Illini Bluffs is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Mt. Pulaski, their defeat dropped their record down to 11-3.

Illini Bluffs came up short against Mt. Pulaski in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, falling 3-0. Can the Tigers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.