Baseball Game Preview: Richland County Tigers vs. Salem Wildcats

The Richland County Tigers will square off against the Salem Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Richland County has given up an average of 7.5 runs per game this season, but Thursday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Richland County fought the good fight in their extra-innings game against Mt. Vernon on Tuesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Rams by a score of 12-11. The Tigers have struggled against the Rams recently, as the game was their eighth consecutive lost meeting.

Owen Cycholl was cooking despite his team's loss, going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Carter Blank, who went 2-for-4 with two runs.

Meanwhile, Salem narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Mattoon 2-1. That's two games straight that the Wildcats have won by just one run.

Rhett Detering spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered a run (which was unearned) on two hits and racked up ten Ks. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Salem is 7-3 when he allows at most three earned runs, but 6-10 otherwise.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Ryan Detering, who went 1-for-2 with one home run. That home run marked the first that he has launched this season.

Salem's win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 13-13. As for Richland County, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-15.