The Bloomington Purple Raiders will head out to face off against the Rantoul Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Bloomington has struggled recently with six losses in a row, while Rantoul will arrive with three straight victories.
Bloomington's last matchup with Normal Community could've gone either way, but unfortunately the same can't be said for the pair's matchup on Wednesday. The Purple Raiders came up short against the Ironmen, falling 10-0.
Meanwhile, Rantoul was able to grind out a solid win over Lincoln on Monday, taking the game 6-1.
Levi Duitsman made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Rantoul is 5-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 10-11 otherwise. Duitsman was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Holden Cargo, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one double. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April. Yovanny Solorzano was another key player, getting on base in two of his three plate appearances with two runs and two RBI.
Rantoul pushed their record up to 15-12 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Bloomington, their defeat dropped their record down to 18-12.
Bloomington took their victory against Rantoul when the teams last played back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 10-0 score. Will the Purple Raiders repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
