The Illini West Chargers will challenge the Beardstown Tigers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Illini West 3.3, Beardstown 3.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Monday, Illini West didn't have quite enough to beat Cuba/Spoon River Valley and fell 6-5. The Chargers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Meanwhile, Beardstown won against Brown County on Thursday with eight runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Saturday. The Tigers' pitchers stepped up to hand New Berlin/Franklin/Waverly an 8-0 shutout. Winning may never get old, but the Tigers sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.
Trey Riddell made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in seven consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ethan Heller, who went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That home run marked the first that he has launched this season.
Beardstown pushed their record up to 16-5-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Illini West, their loss dropped their record down to 21-10.
Everything went Illini West's way against Beardstown when the teams last played back in May of 2024, as Illini West made off with a 15-4 victory. Do the Chargers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Tigers turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
