The Waterloo Bulldogs will face off against the Marion Wildcats at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Waterloo is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last five games.
Waterloo is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They walked away with an 8-4 victory over Civic Memorial.
Aidan Dintelman spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on eight hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than two walks in 21 consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Sam Juelfs was incredible, going 3-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. She also put up a triple, which was her first of the season. Another player making a difference was Ava Brown, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Waterloo was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .414. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .389 or higher in five consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Marion entered their tilt with Carbondale on Friday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 2-1 W against the Terriers.
Marion's win was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 25-7. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.4 runs on average over those games. As for Waterloo, their win bumped their record up to 22-4.
Waterloo came out on top in a nail-biter against Marion in their previous matchup back in May, sneaking past 2-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bulldogs since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
