Baseball Game Preview: Knippa Crushers vs. Benavides Eagles

The Knippa Crushers will face off against the Benavides Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Knippa barely beat Charlotte the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Crushers blew past the Trojans 10-3 on Monday. The win was some much needed relief for the Crushers as it spelled an end to their four-game losing streak.

Joaquin G made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He is becoming a predictor of Knippa's success: when he allows at most two hits the team is 2-1 (and 6-11 when he doesn't). G was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs.

Johnny R

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/28/25 @ Charlotte	4
02/25/25 @ Our Lady of the Hills	3
04/04/25 vs La Pryor	2
03/21/25 vs Falls City	2
03/11/25 @ La Pryor	2

In other batting news, Johnny R was incredible, going 2-for-4 with four RBI, one stolen base, and one run. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high.

Meanwhile, Benavides had already won eight in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12.9 runs) and they went ahead and made it nine on Tuesday. They were the clear victors by a 20-9 margin over the Trojans. The result was nothing new for the Eagles, who have now won seven matchups by ten runs or more so far this season.

Benavides pushed their record up to 9-4 with the victory, which was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 17.4 runs over those games. As for Knippa, their victory bumped their record up to 8-12.

Knippa beat Benavides 5-0 when the teams last played back in May of 2022. Will the Crushers repeat their success, or do the Eagles have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.