The Hermantown Hawks will head out to square off against the Esko Eskomos at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Monday, Hermantown needed a bit of extra time to put away Cloquet. They came out on top in a nail-biter against the Lumberjacks, sneaking past 5-4. The Hawks haven't had any issues with the Lumberjacks recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
Jimmy Bartsch was a major factor no matter where he played. He pitched seven innings while giving up three earned runs off five hits. Bartsch was also stellar in the batter's box, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those runs were his first of the season.
Bartsch wasn't the only one making solid contact as three players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was River Freeman, who went 2-for-3 with one run.
Meanwhile, Esko came tearing into Friday's matchup with eight straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 11 runs), and they left with even more momentum. Everything went their way against the Jaguars as they made off with a 13-1 win. Surprisingly, this marked the Eskomos' fourth straight game in which the away team has come away the victor.
Esko pushed their record up to 11-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for Hermantown, their record is now 4-6.
Hermantown took their victory against Esko in their previous meeting back in May of 2019 by a conclusive 11-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hawks since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
