Baseball Game Preview: Santa Barbara Dons vs. Simi Valley Pioneers

The Santa Barbara Dons are taking a road trip to challenge the Simi Valley Pioneers at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Santa Barbara sitting on four straight victories and Simi Valley on seven.

On Wednesday, Santa Barbara beat St. Bonaventure 6-1.

Meanwhile, Simi Valley sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 win over Bishop Alemany on Wednesday.

Greg Lopez spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on three hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Simi Valley's victory was truly a team effort as six different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Anthony Solis, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.

Simi Valley's win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 15-5. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.5 runs over those games. As for Santa Barbara, their win bumped their record up to 14-6-1.

Santa Barbara couldn't quite get it done against Simi Valley in their previous matchup back in February of 2023 as they fell 8-3. Can the Dons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.