Hastings, Nebraska - With two weeks left in the regular season, the Moo (25-15, 12-4 second half) find themselves with a half-game lead over the Spearfish Sasquatch for the second spot in the 2024 Independence League Baseball championship series. That leaves little room for error for Fremont as they take on the Sodbusters (23-17, 8-9) for three-games in Hastings beginning Tuesday.

After dropping three of the first four meetings against the Sodbusters, the Moo have had Hastings’ number recently. Most recently it was five straight wins against Hastings near the end of June, to bring the season series to 6-3 in favor of the Moo.

The latter three of those wins came at Historic Moller Field from June 25 to 27. The Moo took game one 3-0 behind six scoreless innings from Robert O’Malley. Game two got suspended mid-way through, but it when it resumed the next day Hunter Snyder hit a homerun to put Fremont up 3-1, which is all the Moo would need in a 3-2 win. Then in a hitters friendly game three, the Moo won 8-5 to sweep the series.

It’s been a mixed bag of results for Hastings since then, who sit a game under .500 in the second half. Most recently came a three game set in Casper. In game one, the entire starting lineup recorded an RBI en route to a 18-7 route of the first-place Spuds. The bats stayed hot in game two, but Casper out-dualed them to a 11-9 win. And in game three, Hastings almost came back down 5-0, but fell 8-6 to the Spuds.

Drew Vega has been the most consistent player on offense for Hastings, hitting .330 with nearly 100 at-bats on the year. He’s followed by Sayer Duddleston, who’s hitting .312 for the Sodbusters. It’s hard to hit homeruns at Duncan Field, but Alexiel Delgado has been the power leader with two home runs. And rounding out a blanched offense has been Ryan Jarvis with a team-leading 20 RBIs.

On the mound, Jack Kruger has been the brigest star for the Sodbusters, with a 4-0 record and a miniscule 1.091 era. In relief, Braden Cork has a team-leading four saves on four opportunities, with a .389 ERA.

The Moo have been hotter since the last meeting against the Sodbusters, including another series with this past weekend in a five-game set with the Prospects. Fremont’s offense was on fire in game one, led by a solo home run from Stephen Espinoza, as the Moo won 10-5. It was a similar story in game two, with a 10-8 Fremont win as Brandt Phillips picked up his second win of the year. There was less offense in game three, but Dylan Brandenburg called game with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 win. The Prospects put an end to Fremont’s six-game win streak on Saturday with a 4-2 win. But Fremont got back in the win column Sunday with a 8-1 win behind eight innings of one-run ball from Gage Ingram.

Cooper Fuchino continues to be a strong offense presence for Fremont with a .331 batting average. He’s trailed by Bridger Coleman (.330), Tyrus Petsche (.327) and Collin Pitts (.320). Fuchino also has the edge in home runs with 4, with Coleman (3) and Espinoza (2) right behind. Espinoza has the lead for RBIs with 23 followed by Fuchino (22) and Coleman (21)

It’s been a balanced pitching effort for the Moo, with Reese Kortum (3-2, 3.971 ERA), Robert O’Malley (3-1, 2.512) and Bobby Simmons (3-0, 7.147) all with three wins. Alex Oliver continues to be the top reliever, going 4-for-4 on saves with a 2.368 ERA.

In the second-half standings, the Spuds lead, with the Moo (2.0 games back), Sasquatch (3.0), Zap (5.0) and Sodbusters (6.5) trailing. Should Capser win the second-half, the second playoff spot will be determined by overall standings. Fremont is .5 games ahead of the Sasqautch, 2 games ahead of Hastings and 12.5 games ahead of the Zap.

First pitch for all three games in Hastings, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, is set for 6:35 p.m..