Baseball Game Preview: Westville Tigers vs. Arcola Purple Riders

The Westville Tigers are taking a road trip to take on the Arcola Purple Riders at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Westville 3.4, Arcola 1.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Westville's usually-dominant pitching crew will be looking to make up for Tuesday's struggle, when Centennial hitters got past them. The Tigers fell 11-6 to the Chargers on Tuesday. The Tigers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Meanwhile, Arcola put another one in the bag on Saturday to keep their perfect season alive. They came within a single run of losing the streak, but they secured a 1-0 W against Altamont. The one-run effort marked the Purple Riders' lowest-scoring contest of the season, but in the end it didn't matter.

Tanner Thomas made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in nine consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one double. That's the most stolen bases he has posted since back in April.

Arcola's win was their ninth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 19-0. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.3 runs over those games. As for Westville, their defeat dropped their record down to 21-4.

Everything went Westville's way against Arcola in their previous meeting back in April of 2022, as Westville made off with a 17-3 win. Do the Tigers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Purple Riders turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.