The Meridian Mustangs will venture away from home to square off against the Clare Pioneers at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Meridian will roll into the game after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs on Monday, then bounced right back against St. Louis on Tuesday. The Mustangs put the hurt on the Sharks with a sharp 11-1 victory. The win continues a trend for the Mustangs in their matchups with the Sharks: they've now won four in a row.
Brady Bowen
| 05/09/25 @ Kingsley | 6 |
| 04/12/25 vs Freeland | 5 |
| 05/02/25 @ Gladwin | 3 |
| 04/29/25 vs Standish-Sterling | 3 |
| 05/13/25 vs St. Louis | 1 |
| + 2 more games |
Brady Bowen made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed 2.1 innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Meridian is 5-2 when Bowen allows one or fewer earned runs, but 2-8 otherwise. Bowen was even better at the plate, going 1-for-2 with three runs, one triple, and one stolen base. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Eli Olmsted, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run, one stolen base, and two RBI. Drew Lafave also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.
Meridian always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .552. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, Clare came tearing into Tuesday's matchup with eight straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.8 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They blew past the Hornets 12-2. Considering the Pioneers have won eight contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Porter Harsh was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with four RBI, one run, and one double. The team also got some help courtesy of Matt Mast, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBI and two runs.
Clare's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-4-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.0 runs over those games. As for Meridian, their record is now 7-10.
Meridian came up short against Clare when the teams last played back in April of 2024, falling 8-4. Can the Mustangs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
