Baseball Game Preview: Mt. Carmel Sundevils vs. Sage Creek Bobcats

For the second straight game, Mt. Carmel will face off against Sage Creek. The Sundevils will be playing in front of their home fans against the Bobcats at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Mt. Carmel 3.1, Sage Creek 3.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Mt. Carmel is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 11 runs on Friday, they were much more limited against Sage Creek on Tuesday. They fell just short of the Bobcats by a score of 3-1.

For Sage Creek's part, Elijah Stephens made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched 6.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Stephens has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run and two runs. Sage Creek is undefeated when Stephens posts two or more runs, but 9-10 otherwise.

Stephens wasn't the only one making solid contact as four players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Foster Rovin, who went 2-for-3 with one double and one RBI. That's the most hits Rovin has posted since back in March.

Sage Creek pushed their record up to 15-10 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 1.5 runs across that stretch. As for Mt. Carmel, they have been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 15-10 record this season.