Baseball Game Preview: Hamilton Southeastern Royals vs. Bloomington North Cougars

The Hamilton Southeastern Royals are taking a road trip to face off against the Bloomington North Cougars at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.

For some reason, the away team has come away with the win the last four times Hamilton Southeastern and Fishers have met, but the home crowd finally got their W on Thursday. The Royals took a 6-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Tigers. The Royals have struggled against the Tigers recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost meeting.

Hamilton Southeastern saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Michael Hoog, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and one double.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Bloomington North faced off against Hagerstown on Saturday. The Cougars were the clear victors by a 13-6 margin over the Tigers. The result was nothing new for the Cougars, who have now won seven games by six runs or more so far this season.

Ryan Grupenhoff looked comfortable as he tossed 3.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off two hits.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Jack Williamson, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one stolen base. Another player making a difference was Jake Mayer, who went 1-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.

Bloomington North is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-3 record this season. As for Hamilton Southeastern, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-12.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Saturday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Hamilton Southeastern has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Bloomington North struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.