Baseball Game Preview: Antioch Panthers vs. Heritage Patriots

For the second straight game, Antioch will face off against Heritage. The Panthers will welcome the Patriots at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Antioch fell victim to Heritage and their airtight pitching crew on Tuesday. They lost 7-0 to the Patriots. The Panthers haven't had much luck with the Patriots recently, as the team has come up short the last six times they've met.

For Heritage's part, they got a great performance from Logan Nelson as he didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. What's more, Nelson posted five strikeouts, the most he's had since back in February.

On the hitting side, Tyler Williams was a standout: he went 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Aidan Rangel, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs and one stolen base.

Heritage was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .321 or higher in four consecutive matchups.

Heritage has been performing well recently as they've won five of their last six games. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.2 runs on average over those games. As for Antioch, their loss dropped their record down to 8-13.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Antioch has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.6 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Heritage struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 7.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.