Baseball Game Preview: Salem Wildcats vs. Columbia Eagles

Salem hasn't had much luck against Columbia recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Wildcats will be playing in front of their home fans against the Eagles at 4:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Salem has three straight victories, Columbia has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Salem came out on top against Farina South Central on Wednesday thanks in part to the team's impressive four-run first inning. The Wildcats took their contest against the Cougars 7-2.

Cody Beard

Runs

05/07/25 @ Farina South Central	2
04/24/25 @ Freeburg	2
04/17/25 @ East Alton-Wood River	2
04/16/25 @ Fairfield	1
04/15/25 vs East Alton-Wood River	1
+ 6 more games

Salem saw seven different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cody Beard, who went 1-for-3 with two runs. The Wildcats are 2-1 when Beard posts two or more runs, but 9-10 otherwise. Keaton Gullion was another, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run.

Meanwhile, Columbia didn't have quite enough to beat Salem on Tuesday and fell 4-2.

Salem's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 11-11. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Columbia, their loss dropped their record down to 12-11.

Salem skirted past Columbia 4-2 when the teams last played on Tuesday. Do the Wildcats have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Eagles turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.