Baseball Game Preview: Italy Gladiators vs. Hillsboro Eagles

The Italy Gladiators will head out on the road to face off against the Hillsboro Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Italy is coming into the matchup on a three-game losing streak.

Italy came up short against Abbott on Tuesday, falling 18-4.

Italy saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Xavier DeLaHoya, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Those two hits gave DeLaHoya a new career-high.

Meanwhile, Hillsboro came up short against Venus on Tuesday and fell 12-7.

Carson Barker put in work no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out six batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. That's the fewest earned runs he has allowed over his last five games. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with three runs and one triple. Hillsboro is 2-1 when Barker posts two or more runs, but 3-9 otherwise.

In other batting news, Daniel Ortiz made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with two triples, four RBI, and one run. Braxton Borde was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.

Italy's record is now 1-10. As for Hillsboro, their record now sits at 5-10.

Italy couldn't quite finish off Hillsboro in their previous matchup last Saturday and fell 11-9. Can Italy avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.