Nashville has won five straight games at home, while DuQuoin has won five straight on the road dating back to last season, but those streaks won't matter much on Monday. The Hornets will welcome the Indians at 4:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Nashville 1.5, DuQuoin 3.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Nashville's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Wednesday. Everything went their way against Sparta as they made off with a 10-0 victory. Considering the Hornets have won nine matchups by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Meanwhile, DuQuoin earned an 8-3 win over Anna-Jonesboro on Friday.
Max Zimmerman made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out 13 batters over six innings while giving up three earned runs off three hits (and only one walk). Those 13 strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, going a perfect 1-for-1 with two RBI and one double.
In other batting news, Cy Craft and Noah Siefert did most of the damage at the plate: Craft went a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs, two doubles, and two RBI, while Siefert went 1-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most doubles Craft has posted since back in March. Jeremiah Jones was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
DuQuoin hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. The team has now struck out at least five batters in five consecutive games.
DuQuoin's victory bumped their record up to 16-4. As for Nashville, their win bumped their record up to 15-2.
Nashville skirted past DuQuoin 2-0 in their previous meeting last Tuesday. Do the Hornets have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Indians turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.