The Winnebago Indians will venture away from home to face off against the Lutheran Crusaders at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Winnebago will bounce into Wednesday's match after beating Rockford Christian, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Indians put the hurt on the Royal Lions with a sharp 8-0 victory on Monday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win the Indians have posted against the Royal Lions since June 8, 2021.
Meanwhile, Lutheran hadn't done well against Dixon recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Tuesday. The Crusaders sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 9-7 victory over the Dukes & Duchesses.
Jake Guse and Nate Ling made a big impact no matter where they played. On the mound, Guse struck out ten batters over 5.1 innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits. Meanwhile, Ling tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances. At the plate, Guse went 1-for-4 with two RBI, one run, and one double, while Ling got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases and two runs. Ling has become a key player for Lutheran: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 5-8 otherwise.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mason Villafuerte, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI, one stolen base, and one run. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April. The team also got some help courtesy of Gaven Metcalf, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
Lutheran is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 games. That's provided a massive bump to their 15-8 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Winnebago, with the victory, they broke their four-game losing streak and moved their record to 9-20.
