Boilermakers
| 05/07/25 @ Lockport | 2 |
| 05/06/25 vs Beecher | 11 |
| 05/05/25 vs Lockport | 1 |
| 05/03/25 vs Oak Forest | 2 |
| 05/01/25 vs Lincoln-Way West | 3 |
| + 21 more games |
The Bradley-Bourbonnais Boilermakers are taking a road trip to take on the Bishop McNamara Fightin' Irish at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Bradley-Bourbonnais is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.5 runs per game this season.
Bradley-Bourbonnais is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 11 runs on Tuesday, they were much more limited against Lockport on Wednesday. They took a 5-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Porters. The game snapped a strange streak: the last four times these teams have met, it?s been the away team that?s taken home the W.
Mason Shaul made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one run.
Meanwhile, Bishop McNamara waltzed into their matchup on Tuesday with five straight wins... but they left with six. They never let the Green Wave get on the board and left with a 12-0 win. Considering the Fightin' Irish have won seven contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Jacob Lotz and Colin Downs were major factors while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Lotz struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (and only one walk). Meanwhile, Downs tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. Lotz has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in eight consecutive appearances. At the plate, Lotz went 3-for-4 with four stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI, while Downs went a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI, one run, and one double. That's the most runs Lotz has posted since back in March.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Max Rohr, who went 1-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Braylon Ricketts, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Bishop McNamara always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .576. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in three consecutive games.
Bishop McNamara pushed their record up to 17-6 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Bradley-Bourbonnais, their loss ended a three-game streak of away wins and brought them to 16-10.
Bradley-Bourbonnais beat Bishop McNamara 4-1 in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Boilermakers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
