Baseball Game Preview: Southside Cardinals vs. Harlandale Indians

The Southside Cardinals will face off against the Harlandale Indians at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last games, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.

On Friday, Southside didn't have quite enough to beat MacArthur and fell 4-3.

Southside saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Luke Martinez, who went 1-for-2 with three RBI and one double. Eddie Villazana was another, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one run and one double.

Meanwhile, Harlandale was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their sixth straight loss. They were a single run away from ending the streak, but they lost a 7-6 heartbreaker at the hands of Jay. That's two games in a row now that the Indians have lost by just one run.

Southside's defeat was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 12-13. Even worse, they were so close so many times: the losses came by an average of only 1.25 runs. As for Harlandale, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-18.

Harlandale's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Southside has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .434. It's a different story for Harlandale, though, as they've only averaged .301. Will they be able to contain Southside's hitters?

Southside skirted past Harlandale 8-7 in their previous matchup back in March. Will the Cardinals repeat their success, or do the Indians have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.