Baseball Game Preview: Hayden Lobos vs. Valley Lutheran Flames

The Hayden Lobos will square off against the Valley Lutheran Flames at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. Hayden's pitching crew has only allowed 3.4 runs per game this season, so Valley Lutheran's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Hayden is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 13 runs two weeks ago, they were much more limited against Florence last Monday. They took a 5-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Gophers. The Lobos haven't had much luck with the Gophers recently, as the team has come up short the last seven times they've met.

Meanwhile, Valley Lutheran came into Tuesday's contest having lost four straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Superior 5-3. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Flames have posted since March 21st.

Ethan Brown spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned (and one unearned) runs on four hits and racked up seven Ks.

On the hitting side, Valley Lutheran saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brennan Larson, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two stolen bases, one triple, and one run. Larson has become a key player for the Flames: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two stolen bases, but 2-7 otherwise. Sebastian Alvarez Juzaino also deserves some recognition as he hit his first double of the season.

Valley Lutheran's win bumped their record up to 4-8. As for Hayden, their defeat dropped their record down to 19-5.

Everything went Hayden's way against Valley Lutheran in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as Hayden made off with an 18-1 victory. Do the Lobos have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Flames turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.