Baseball Game Preview: Hope Christian Academy vs. Evangel Christian Lightning

Hope Christian Academy will take on the Evangel Christian Lightning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Hope Christian Academy comes in on three and Evangel Christian on seven.

If Hope Christian Academy beats Evangel Christian with nine runs on Thursday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. Hope Christian Academy walked away with a 9-4 win over Coosa Valley Academy on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Evangel Christian got the win against Southern Christian on Friday by a conclusive 10-4. Considering the Lightning have won ten matchups by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

The team relied heavily on RALEY CURTIS, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-3. Those three stolen bases gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Kemp Swords, who went 1-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.

CURTIS wasn't the only one working in the hit department: Evangel Christian kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive games.

Evangel Christian pushed their record up to 16-1 with the victory, which was their 13th straight on the road dating back to last season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.8 runs over those games. As for Hope Christian Academy, their record now sits at 14-5.