Baseball Game Preview: Live Oak Acorns vs. Prospect Panthers

For the second straight game, Live Oak will face off against Prospect. The Acorns will be playing at home against the Panthers at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Live Oak didn't have quite enough to beat Prospect and fell 6-5. The Acorns have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

For Prospect's part, Kevin-Joseph Rieden was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Rieden has become a key player for Prospect: the team is 7-1 when he allows at most three hits, but 7-8 otherwise. Rieden was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.

In other batting news, Kyle Pollace was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Prospect's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 9-1 (and 5-8 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Henry Little, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.

Prospect is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 14-9 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.2 runs over those games. As for Live Oak, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-13.

The pitchers for both teams better look sharp on Thursday as neither team is afraid to steal. Live Oak has been swiping bases left and right this season, having averaged 4 stolen bases per game. However, it's not like Prospect struggles in that department as they've been averaging 3.7 stolen bases. The only question left is which team can snag more. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.