Baseball Game Preview: Champaign Central Maroons vs. Bloomington Purple Raiders

The Champaign Central Maroons will venture away from home to challenge the Bloomington Purple Raiders at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Bloomington will be up against a hot Champaign Central team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. The Maroons were the clear victors by an 8-1 margin over Peoria Notre Dame on Monday. The home team had taken home the W every time these teams have met since April 25, 2022, but that streak is no more.

Meanwhile, Bloomington entered their tilt with Peoria on Monday with nine consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with ten. They were the clear victors by a 15-1 margin over the Lions. 15 seems to be a good number for the Purple Raiders as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.

Bloomington's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 18-6. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.9 runs on average over those games. As for Champaign Central, their victory bumped their record up to 14-11-1.

Champaign Central came out on top in a nail-biter against Bloomington when the teams last played back in May of 2024, sneaking past 2-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Maroons since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.