Baseball Game Preview: Niceville Eagles vs. Pace Patriots

The Niceville Eagles will venture away from home to face off against the Pace Patriots at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Niceville is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.2 runs per game this season.

Pace will be up against a hot Niceville squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Everything went Niceville's way against Pine Forest on Thursday as Niceville made off with a 22-0 win. Considering Niceville has won nine matches by more than seven runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Landon Hawkins looked comfortable as he pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in February.

At the plate, CJ Bolden was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-2. Jackson Marquardt was another key player, going 1-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple.

Niceville kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That's the most hits they've posted since back in April of 2024.

Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for Pace's offense. They took a 4-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of Gulf Breeze on Friday. That makes it the first time this season the Patriots have let down their home crowd.

Niceville's victory bumped their record up to 17-3. As for Pace, their defeat was their first in the district, dropping their district record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 13-3.

Niceville was able to grind out a solid win over Pace in their previous matchup back in February, winning 5-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for Niceville since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.