Baseball Game Preview: Ripon Christian Knights vs. Escalon Cougars

For the second straight game, Ripon Christian will face off against Escalon. Ripon Christian will be playing at home against Escalon at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Ripon Christian will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each matchup than the last.

On Wednesday, Ripon Christian didn't have quite enough to beat Escalon and fell 8-7.

For Escalon's part, the team relied heavily on Lorenzo Texeira, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and three runs. Escalon is undefeated when Texeira posts two or more runs, but 5-6 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Dylan Ball, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-3.

Escalon was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .387. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Ripon Christian only posted a batting average of .241.

Escalon is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 9-6 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.8 runs on average over those games. Ripon Christian's loss was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 6-8.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Friday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Ripon Christian has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Escalon struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.4 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.