The West Lafayette Red Devils will venture away from home to take on the Northwestern Tigers at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. West Lafayette is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.2 runs per game this season.
West Lafayette barely beat Rensselaer Central the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Red Devils blew past the Bombers 10-2 on Tuesday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Red Devils considering their two-run performance the game before.
Ben Werth made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out eight over four innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because West Lafayette is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 4-6 otherwise. Werth was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two runs.
Joe Doty
| 05/06/25 @ Rensselaer Central | 4 |
| 04/22/25 @ Lafayette Central Catholic | 3 |
| 05/10/24 @ Tipton | 3 |
| 04/18/25 vs Logansport | 2 |
| 04/15/25 @ Twin Lakes | 2 |
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Joe Doty, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs, two doubles, and one stolen base. Those four hits gave him a new career-high. Fischer Trosky also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Meanwhile, Northwestern entered their tilt with Manchester on Wednesday with three consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with four. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 win over the Squires. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Tigers have posted since April 2nd.
Northwestern's win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was William Rees, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base and one run.
West Lafayette pushed their record up to 8-6 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.3 runs over those games. As for Northwestern, their record now sits at 13-4.
West Lafayette suffered a grim 19-3 defeat to Northwestern in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Can the Red Devils avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
