Baseball Game Preview: Marquette Catholic Blazers vs. Hammond Central Wolves

The Marquette Catholic Blazers will face off against the Hammond Central Wolves at 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Marquette Catholic has given up an average of 10.2 runs per game this season, but Tuesday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Marquette Catholic came up short against Culver Academies on Saturday, falling 14-3. The defeat continues a trend for the Blazers in their meetings with the Eagles: they've now lost six in a row.

Meanwhile, Hammond Central had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 22.5 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. They put the hurt on the Cougars with a sharp 21-1 win. The result was nothing new for the Wolves, who have now won four matches by 13 runs or more so far this season.

Hammond Central got a great performance from Julian Santiago as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Santiago has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Elijah Lewis, who got on base in all five of his plate appearances with four runs, four RBI, and one stolen base. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Brandon Hilliard, who went 2-for-4 with three stolen bases, two runs, and two doubles.

Hammond Central was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .424. They are a perfect 3-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.

Hammond Central's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 5-3-1. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Marquette Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 1-3.

Marquette Catholic might still be hurting after the 10-0 defeat they got from Hammond Central in their previous matchup back in May of 2023. Will the Blazers have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.