Baseball Game Preview: Kendall Eagles vs. Byron-Bergen Bees

The Kendall Eagles will head out on the road to face off against the Byron-Bergen Bees at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. Kendall is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last six games.

Kendall's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. They blew past Bishop Kearney 12-0. Considering the Eagles have won eight contests by more than eight runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.

Byron-Bergen's found some homefield redemption this week after a overtime loss to Elba on Wednesday. The Bees were the clear victors by an 8-1 margin over School of the Arts.

Dylan Utter was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over seven innings while giving up just one earned run off six hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Martin McConnell, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Bryson Snell, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.

Byron-Bergen was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .450. They are 3-1 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Kendall's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-1. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.7 runs over those games. As for Byron-Bergen, their record now sits at 5-7.

Everything went Kendall's way against Byron-Bergen in their previous matchup back in April, as Kendall made off with a 12-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.