Baseball Game Preview: Milton Panthers vs. Niceville Eagles

For the second straight game, Milton will face off against Niceville. The Panthers will venture away from home to square off against the Eagles at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Milton heads in on the heels of a playoff matchup on Wednesday. They fell 7-3 to Niceville. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

For Niceville's part, they got a great performance from Brady Martin as he struck out ten batters over 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off eight hits (and not a single walk). That's the most strikeouts Martin has posted since back in March.

On the hitting side, Remington Crum and Matthew Marcantonio did most of the damage at the plate: Crum got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one stolen base and one run, while Marcantonio went 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double. Another player making a difference was CJ Bolden, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.

The victory (which was Niceville's fifth in a row) raised their record to 24-4. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs over those games. As for Milton, they have traveled a rocky road recently, having lost nine of their last 11 games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 10-14 record this season.