Baseball Game Preview: Trinity Lutheran Cougars vs. Rising Sun Shiners

Trinity Lutheran and Rising Sun are an even 5-5 against one another since May of 2015, but likely not for long. The Cougars will take on the Shiners at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.

Trinity Lutheran had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the ten-run drubbing they dealt Clarksville on Thursday. The Cougars put the hurt on the Generals with a sharp 16-6 victory. The win was nothing new for the Cougars as they're now sitting on three straight.

Nathan Finke

Runs

04/08/25 vs Rising Sun	3
05/22/25 @ Clarksville	2
05/17/25 vs Loogootee	2
05/10/25 vs Springs Valley	2
05/08/25 vs Shawe Memorial	2
+ 10 more games

The team relied heavily on Nathan Finke, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. He is becoming a predictor of Trinity Lutheran's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 5-11 when he doesn't). Kade Gillaspy was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double.

Trinity Lutheran always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .629. The last time their OBP was this high was back in May of 2024.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Rising Sun). They blew past Austin 12-2 on Saturday. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory the Shiners have posted against the Eagles since April 13, 2019.

Rising Sun has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a massive bump to their 8-11 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.5 runs over those games. As for Trinity Lutheran, their victory bumped their record up to 10-11.

Trinity Lutheran beat Rising Sun 7-3 when the teams last played back in April. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Cougars since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.