Baseball Game Preview: Escambia Gators vs. Pine Forest Eagles

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Previous Games

04/05/24 - Home	13-4 W
04/03/24 - Away	10-0 W
04/21/23 - Home	2-5 L
03/03/23 - Away	3-11 L
05/03/22 - Neutral	4-7 L
+ 5 more games

Escambia and Pine Forest are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2020, but likely not for long. The Escambia Gators will head out on the road to challenge the Pine Forest Eagles at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Escambia has seven straight wins, Pine Forest has 12 straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

On Thursday, it was close, but Escambia sidestepped Navarre for a 3-2 victory.

Clayton Sanders made a splash no matter where he played. He struck out eight batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits (and not a single walk). He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.

Sanders wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Colin Hanks, who went 1-for-2 with one RBI.

Meanwhile, Pine Forest lost 16-1 to Central on Wednesday.

Escambia pushed their record up to 8-1 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Pine Forest, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-10.

Pine Forest's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Escambia has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .494. It's a different story for Pine Forest, though, as they've only averaged .357. Will they be able to contain Escambia's hitters?

Everything went Escambia's way against Pine Forest in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, as Escambia made off with a 13-4 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Escambia since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.