Baseball Game Preview: Buckhorn Wildcats vs. Pike County Central Hawks

The Buckhorn Wildcats will take on the Pike County Central Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Buckhorn barely beat Cordia the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Wildcats' pitcher stepped up to hand the Lions an 11-0 shutout on Wednesday. The victory continues a trend for the Wildcats in their matchups with the Lions: they've now won six in a row.

Buckhorn let Austin Riley and Gunner Gay run wild. Riley went a perfect 3-for-3 with four stolen bases, two runs, and one double, while Gay went 2-for-3 with five stolen bases and three runs. Those five stolen bases gave Gay a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Brayden Rice, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one triple, one stolen base, and one run.

Meanwhile, Pike County Central got the win against Mingo Central on Tuesday by a conclusive 14-4. Considering the Hawks have won 13 matches by more than nine runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

The win made it two in a row for Pike County Central and bumps their season record up to 18-9. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.0 runs over those games. As for Buckhorn, their win bumped their record up to 11-16.

Buckhorn suffered a grim 14-3 defeat to Pike County Central in their previous meeting two weeks ago. Will the Wildcats have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.