Baseball Game Preview: Encina Bulldogs vs. Valley Christian Lions

For the second straight game, Encina will face off against Valley Christian. The Bulldogs will head out on the road to square off against the Lions at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Encina is looking for their season's first win.

Encina came up short against Valley Christian on Tuesday, falling 16-2.

For Valley Christian's part, Kurt Haase made a big impact no matter where he played. He struck out ten batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits (and only one walk). Those ten strikeouts gave Haase a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on David Harris, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with three RBI, two runs, and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Stephen Morse also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

Valley Christian is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games. That's provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average over those games. As for Encina, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-14.