Baseball Game Preview: Elba Lancers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Elba is 0-9 against Notre Dame since May of 2021 but things could change on Monday. The Lancers will host the Fighting Irish at 5:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Elba 3.5, Notre Dame 2.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Elba will bounce into Monday's contest after beating Oakfield-Alabama, who they had gone 0-8 against in their eight prior meetings. The Lancers walked away with a 7-3 victory over the Hornets on Friday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Lancers.

Alex Rascoe

Doubles (Career)

05/16/25 @ Oakfield-Alabama	2
05/07/25 @ Jasper-Troupsburg	1
05/06/25 vs Kendall	1
04/04/25 @ Barker	1

The team relied heavily on Alex Rascoe, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with five RBI, two doubles, and one run. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high. Mark Caparco was another key player, going 1-for-3 with three runs and one double.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame fought the good fight in their extra-innings matchup against Northstar Christian Academy on Saturday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Knights by a score of 3-1. The Fighting Irish have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Notre Dame's defeat dropped their record down to 12-4. As for Elba, their win bumped their record up to 7-5.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Elba has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Notre Dame struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.7 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Elba came up short against Notre Dame in their previous matchup last Saturday, falling 5-1. Can the Lancers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.