Baseball Recap: Northwood Wins Going Away Against Culver Academies

NorthWood had to skate by with only a two-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the eight-run drubbing they dealt Culver Academies on Saturday. The Panthers blew past the Eagles 10-2. The high-scoring performance was a welcome turnaround for the Panthers' hitters, who had struggled in the games prior.

Brady Blackford

Batters Struck Out (Career)

05/10/25 vs Culver Academies	7
05/03/25 vs Bremen	6
04/26/25 vs New Prairie	4
04/14/25 vs West Noble	4
04/27/24 @ Bremen	2

NorthWood got a great performance from Brady Blackford as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave Blackford a new career-high.

At the plate, Connor Reed and Mason Bogan did most of the damage at the plate: Reed got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI, while Bogan got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI. That's the most stolen bases Reed has posted over his last 14 matches. The team also got some help courtesy of Nate Dutkowski, who went 1-for-2 with three RBI, one triple, and one run.

NorthWood always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .526. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Culver Academies only posted an OBP of .222.

NorthWood has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-7 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Culver Academies, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-3.

NorthWood and Culver Academies should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps Indiana Rankings. The Panthers (ranked 93rd) will meet Wawasee (ranked 321st) at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Meanwhile, Culver Academies will challenge LaVille at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday with a big rank advantage (81 vs. 236). The two teams have allowed few runs on average (the Eagles 3.8, the Lancers 3.6) so any runs scored will be well earned.