Baseball Game Preview: Illiana Christian Vikings vs. Andrean Fighting 59ers

The Illiana Christian Vikings are taking a road trip to take on the Andrean Fighting 59ers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Illiana Christian 2, Andrean 2.3) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Illiana Christian's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Thursday's struggle, when Portage hitters got past them. The Vikings fell just short of the Indians by a score of 10-9 on Thursday. The Vikings' defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.

Ayden VanKuiken made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That home run marked the first that he has launched this season. Another player making a difference was Nick DeBlock, who went 1-for-2 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.

Meanwhile, Andrean entered their tilt with Nazareth Academy on Wednesday with 12 consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with 13. They put the hurt on the Roadrunners with a sharp 12-2 win. The result was nothing new for the Fighting 59ers, who have now won 17 games by six runs or more so far this season.

Andrean pushed their record up to 23-1 with the victory, which was their 15th straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.7 runs on average over those games. As for Illiana Christian, their loss dropped their record down to 17-4.

Everything went Illiana Christian's way against Andrean in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, as Illiana Christian made off with a 13-3 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Vikings since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.