Baseball Game Preview: Fishers Tigers vs. Westfield Rocks

The Fishers Tigers will square off against the Westfield Rocks at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Fishers is probably headed into the contest with a chip on their shoulder considering Brownsburg just ended the team's seven-game winning streak on Thursday. They took a 5-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Westfield, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Saturday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 win over Brownsburg on Tuesday. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

James Kovacs looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks in 11 consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Andrew Noble was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and one double.

Westfield's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-10-1. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Fishers, their loss dropped their record down to 15-13.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Fishers has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Westfield struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Fishers was able to grind out a solid victory over Westfield in their previous meeting back in April, winning 8-5. Will the Tigers repeat their success, or do the Rocks have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.