The Lincoln Christian Crusaders will challenge the Gross Catholic Cougars at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Lincoln Christian 3.2, Gross Catholic 3.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Tuesday, Lincoln Christian made easy work of Auburn and carried off a 13-1 win. Considering the Crusaders have won six contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Caleb DeWitt
| 04/15/25 @ Auburn | 2 |
| 04/07/25 vs Lincoln Lutheran | 1 |
| 03/29/25 vs Lincoln High | 1 |
| 05/02/24 vs Aurora | 1 |
| 04/20/24 @ Lincoln Northwest | 1 |
Caleb DeWitt was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ian Brester, who went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Grant DeHaan, who went 1-for-4 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run.
Lincoln Christian always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .515. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Auburn only posted an OBP of .158.
Meanwhile, Gross Catholic had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 7.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. They came out on top against the Falcon by a score of 6-2. That's two games straight that the Cougars have won by exactly four runs.
Gross Catholic also got a great performance from Luke Janovich as he pitched 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits.
On the hitting side, Gross Catholic's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Logan Legner, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.
The win made it two in a row for Lincoln Christian and bumps their season record up to 7-4. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.5 runs over those games. As for Gross Catholic, their win bumped their record up to 10-3.
Tuesday's match might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Lincoln Christian has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .451. However, it's not like Gross Catholic struggles in that department as they've averaged .436. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Lincoln Christian couldn't quite finish off Gross Catholic in their previous meeting back in April of 2023 and fell 3-1. Can the Crusaders avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
