Baseball Game Preview: Medicine Lodge Indians vs. Cheney Cardinals

The Medicine Lodge Indians will take on the Cheney Cardinals on Thursday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

While Medicine Lodge's victory against Conway Springs wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Indians had just enough and edged out the Cardinals 7-6 on Monday. The Indians haven't had any issues with the Cardinals recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Meanwhile, Cheney had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Monday. They blew past Conway Springs 12-2. That looming 12-2 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for Cheney yet this season.

Gracen Radell looked comfortable as he struck out eight batters over 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits (and only one walk). He is becoming a predictor of Cheney's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is undefeated (and 1-2 when he doesn't).

On the hitting side, Cheney let Reece Tolar and Cameron Eastman run wild. Tolar went a perfect 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, three RBI, and one triple, while Eastman scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-4. Cheney is undefeated when Eastman posts two or more runs, but 1-2 otherwise. Josh Burdick was another key player, scoring two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.

Cheney was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .435. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .321 or higher in four consecutive contests.

Cheney pushed their record up to 4-2 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.5 runs over those games. As for Medicine Lodge, the victory got them back to even at 1-1.

Medicine Lodge came out on top in a nail-biter against Cheney when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 5-4. Will the Indians repeat their success, or do the Cardinals have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.