The Harper Creek Beavers will head out to challenge the Marshall Redhawks at 1:00 p.m. on Friday. Harper Creek's pitching crew has only allowed 3.6 runs per game this season, so Marshall's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
On Tuesday, Harper Creek was able to grind out a solid victory over Western, taking the game 7-3. The win continues a trend for the Beavers in their matchups with the Panthers: they've now won four in a row.
Brayden Bess
| 05/13/25 @ Western | 3 |
| 04/29/25 vs Hastings | 2 |
| 04/26/25 @ Vicksburg | 2 |
| 04/22/25 @ St. Joseph | 2 |
| 04/24/25 @ Kalamazoo Christian | 1 |
Brayden Bess made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs, one stolen base, and one double. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jimmy Leamy, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.
Meanwhile, Marshall got the win against Hastings on Tuesday by a conclusive 15-3. Considering the Redhawks have won seven contests by more than seven runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Brandon Baker looked comfortable as he struck out eight batters over four innings while giving up three earned runs off only two hits.
At the plate, Landon Lewis was incredible, going 1-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. Conner Melon also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.
Marshall always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .529. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Hastings only posted an OBP of .364.
Marshall has been performing well recently as they've won nine of their last 12 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-6 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Harper Creek, their win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-5-1.
Harper Creek came out on top in a nail-biter against Marshall in their previous matchup two weeks ago, sneaking past 4-2. Do the Beavers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Redhawks turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
