The Murphysboro Red Devils will challenge the Herrin Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams each escaped (but just barely!) with wins against their previous opponents.
Herrin will be up against a hot Murphysboro squad: the team just extended their winning streak to four. The Red Devils came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 7-6 W against Centralia. That's two games straight that the Red Devils have won by just one run.
Mason Bastien
| 04/18/25 @ Centralia | 1 |
| 04/15/25 @ Carterville | 1 |
| 04/12/25 @ Massac County | 1 |
Mason Bastien was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with one home run, one stolen base, and one double. He has become a key player for Murphysboro: the team is undefeated when he posts at least one home run, but 6-8 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Reece Mileur, who went 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI.
Meanwhile, it may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Herrin ultimately got the result they hoped for on Friday. They had just enough and edged out Carterville 5-4. The win was some much needed relief for the Tigers as it spelled an end to their three-game losing streak.
Chance Estes spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned (and one unearned) runs on eight hits and racked up six Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than six strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Herrin's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Jaxton Faulkenberry, who went 3-for-4 with two triples, one run, and one RBI. Those two triples gave Faulkenberry a new career-high. Talan Nemeth also deserves some recognition as he hit his first triple of the season.
Murphysboro pushed their record up to 9-8 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs over those games. As for Herrin, their win was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-3 and their overall record up to 7-9.
Murphysboro skirted past Herrin 6-4 when the teams last played last Tuesday. Do the Red Devils have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Tigers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
