Baseball Game Preview: Columbia Wildcats vs. Bishop Kelly Knights

The Columbia Wildcats will head out on the road to take on the Bishop Kelly Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Columbia has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with three straight defeats, while Bishop Kelly will come in with five straight wins.

Columbia lost 7-1 to Skyview on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Bishop Kelly hadn't done well against Skyview recently (they were 1-8 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. The Knights blew past the Hawks 10-4. The Knights might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won six matchups by six runs or more this season.

Luca Quilici made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out six batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits (and only one walk). He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Bishop Kelly is 2-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 4-6 otherwise. Quilici was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.

In other batting news, Bishop Kelly got a massive performance out of Lucas Blaine, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. Those three runs gave Blaine a new career-high. Cole Keck was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.

Bishop Kelly kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.4 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 11.4.

Bishop Kelly pushed their record up to 6-7 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Columbia, their loss dropped their record down to 4-9.

Columbia might still be hurting after the 23-6 defeat they got from Bishop Kelly when the teams last played on Thursday. Can the Wildcats avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.