Fremont, NE - The Moo continue their playoff push with the final five home games of the season, including a two-game set with the Nebraska Prospects beginning Friday.

Fremont (26-16, 13-5 second half) enters the series needing wins, after dropping two of three to the Hastings Sodbusters in a road series. The Prospects (6-20, 1-10) are not eligible for the championship, but have the chance to play spoiler to multiple teams over the final two weeks of the season.

The Prospects haven’t played a game in four days. Their last contest was against the Moo on Sunday, the conclusion of a season long five-game set that the Moo took four of five in. 

The Moo took game one in an 10-5 offensive explosion highlighted by a home run by Stephen Espinoza. The hot bats continued in game two as Fremont won 10-8. In a low-scoring game three, Dylan Brandenburg was the hero with a walk-off home run for a 3-2 Moo win. The Prospects finally came out on top 4-2 in a pitcher's duel between Cooper Katskee and Robert O’Malley. But Fremont got back on track in game five, as Gage Ingram went eight innings and the Moo won 8-1.

Blake Stenger has led the offense for the Prospects. The University of Nebraska - Omaha commit is hitting .373, followed by Arkansas commit Elliott Peterson who is hitting .309. For power, Easton Swaford, Brice Wallar and Drew Borner each have a home run. Borner also has been an RBI leader, with 15, followed by Korez Cozad’s 14 and Wallar’s 12.

It’s been a balanced pitching effort for the Prospects. Carson Obercht (1-1, 3.50 ERA), Colton Homolka (1-2, 6.857), Jay Unger (1-0, 0.00), Kyler Hanson (1-1, 5.151) and Cooper Katskee (1-0, .000) all have a win. Hanson also has the lone save for the Prospects this year.

The Moo are chasing a win after dropping the final two of the three-game set against the Sodbusters. In game one, Jack Torosian had two triples and the Moo got their first extra-innings win of the year 5-4 in ten innings. But then things went south. In game two, the Moo blew a four-run lead and fell 9-8, and in game three Fremont blew a three-run lead in a 14-4 loss.

Statistically, Cooper Fuchino has been leading the offense with a .333 batting average, followed by Bridger Coleman (.323), Collin Pitts (.320) and Tyrus Petsche (.305). Carter Sintek has been hot in his return to the Moo, hitting .360 through 25 at-bats. Cooper Fuchino also has the home run lead with four and Bridger Coleman is chasing close behind with three. And Fuchino also leads in RBIs with 24, followed by Stephen Espinoza (23) and Coleman (22).

Every game counts a lot right now, as three-teams are chasing for the second championship spot. Casper clinched a spot with their first-half championship. The Spuds lead in the second half-standings, with the Moo (4.0 games back), Sasquatch (4.5), Zap (6.5) and Sodbusters (7.5) trailing. Should Casper win the second half, it will go to the second-best overall record. In the overall standings, the Sasquatch and Moo are both 10.5 games back, with the Sodbusters one game behind them. 

First pitch for both games of the Prospects series is set for 7:05 p.m. from Historic Moller Field.