Baseball Game Preview: Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders vs. Iona Prep Gaels

Archbishop Stepinac hasn't had much luck against Iona Prep recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Crusaders will head out on the road to square off against the Gaels at 4:15 p.m. Archbishop Stepinac will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak.

Archbishop Stepinac can't be too worried about heading out to take on Iona Prep: they just beat St. Peter's at home, who had been dominant on their own field up to that point. The Crusaders' pitchers stepped up to hand the Eagles a 3-0 shutout on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Iona Prep and St. Joseph-by-the-Sea squared off in some playoff action on Sunday, but Iona Prep had to settle for second. They fell 9-5 to the Vikings.

Archbishop Stepinac pushed their record up to 19-12 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Iona Prep, their loss dropped their record down to 21-5-1.

Archbishop Stepinac suffered a grim 10-0 defeat to Iona Prep when the teams last played back in April. Can the Crusaders avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.