Baseball Game Preview: Albuquerque Academy Chargers vs. Del Norte Knights

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Previous Games

04/08/25 - Home	13-0 W
04/26/24 - Home	11-1 W
04/09/24 - Away	19-6 W
04/21/23 - Away	16-0 W
04/04/23 - Home	30-7 W
+ 5 more games

Albuquerque Academy is a perfect 10-0 against Del Norte since April of 2019 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Chargers will challenge the Knights at 4:00 p.m. Albuquerque Academy is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.3 runs per game this season.

Albuquerque Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of New Mexico's top teams: Hope Christian, who was ranked 22nd at the time (Albuquerque Academy was ranked 23rd). The Chargers skirted past the Huskies 3-1. Winning may never get old, but the Chargers sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.

EJ Gallardo spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on three hits and racked up six Ks.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Andrew Olson, who went 3-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one stolen base. That home run was his first of the season.

Del Norte couldn't beat Bernalillo on Tuesday even though they stacked five runs on them in the fourth inning. The Knights lost 15-5 to the Spartans. The defeat continues a trend for the Knights in their meetings with the Spartans: they've now lost six in a row.

Albuquerque Academy pushed their record up to 14-9 with the win, which was their seventh straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Del Norte, their loss dropped their record down to 2-15-1.

Del Norte's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Albuquerque Academy hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .324. It's a different story for Del Norte, though, as they've only averaged .215. Will they be able to contain Albuquerque Academy's hitters?

Everything went Albuquerque Academy's way against Del Norte in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as Albuquerque Academy made off with a 13-0 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Chargers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.