vs
| 04/25/24 - Home | 8-2 W |
| 04/27/23 - Away | 14-4 W |
| 04/28/22 - Home | 10-0 W |
| 04/29/21 - Away | 10-4 W |
| 05/18/17 - Home | 12-8 W |
Ionia has gone a perfect 5-0 against Hastings recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Bulldogs will welcome the Saxons at 4:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Ionia has three straight wins, Hastings has 14 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Ionia is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Sexton a 15-0 shutout on Tuesday. The Bulldogs not only won on Tuesday, but they posted their biggest win since May 10, 2024 (when they won 19-0).
Gaven Elvert made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Ionia got a massive performance out of Colt Piercefield, who went 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. Those three stolen bases gave Piercefield a new career-high. Trevor Hodges was another key player, going 1-for-2 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI.
Ionia always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .565. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Hastings lost 15-3 to Marshall on Tuesday.
Hastings saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Scott Sanders, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI. Miles Lipsey also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.
Ionia's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-5. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Hastings, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-19.
Everything went Ionia's way against Hastings when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Ionia made off with an 8-2 victory. Will the Bulldogs repeat their success, or do the Saxons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
