The River City Rascals and Normal CornBelters meet at The Corn Crib for a three-game series starting on Tuesday night. The CornBelters (11-16) took two of three games in the previous series the pair played at CarShield Field in late May. The Rascals (16-11) come in one series removed from being the hottest team in the Frontier League. River City had won eight of nine before the Southern Illinois Miners won the first three games of their weekend series. The Rascals salvaged a win in the finale to make the trip North not completely unbearable. Normal comes home after winning a series against the Gateway Grizzlies by taking the final two games.
The people of Normal should be treated to some action-packed games. This matchup will feature two of the three best hitting teams in the Frontier League. The Rascals continue to be tops in the league in batting average (.313) and on-base percentage (.382) and second in slugging (.454) and OPS (.836). The CornBelters are third in batting average (.278), slugging (.435) and OPS (.780). River City is averaging 5.74 runs per game to the CornBelters’ conveniently tidy 5 runs per game. The CornBelters’ Aaron Dudley currently leads the race for the Frontier League Batting title at .379, but River City DH Josh Ludy is right behind him at .375.
On the mound, both teams are thoroughly average. The Rascals are sixth out of 12 teams with a team ERA of 4.13; Normal is eighth at 4.26.
In their previous series, the CornBelters outscored the Rascals 23-20 over three games.
As of June 13
Game 1: Jason Ziegler (1-0, 7.04 ERA) vs. Michael Schweiss (2-2, 2.17) Tuesday, 6:35 p.m.
Game 2: TBA vs. Max Homick (2-2, 2.39) Wednesday, 6:35 p.m.
Game 3: TBA vs. Matthew Chavarria (0-3, 3.00) Thursday, 6:35 p.m.
Courtesy of Weather.com
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