Baseball Game Preview: Harding Knights vs. Camden Patriots

The Harding Knights will face off against the Camden Patriots at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Harding will be strutting in after a victory while Camden will be coming in after a loss.

Harding is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Johnson 18-6 on Wednesday. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Knights as it put an end to their five-game losing streak.

Jathen Fairbanks was a major factor while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Harding is 3-1 when he allows at most two earned runs, but 0-10 otherwise. Fairbanks was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in four of his five plate appearances with two RBI and one run. What's more, he posted two hits, the most he's had since back in April.

In other batting news, Alex Oxley and Mikey Xiong did most of the damage at the plate: Oxley went 3-for-5 with three stolen bases, four runs, and three RBI, while Xiong got on base in three of his five plate appearances with four runs, two stolen bases, and three RBI. Harding is 2-1 when Oxley posts two or more runs, but 1-10 otherwise. Hue Yang was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs.

Meanwhile, Camden came up short against Roosevelt two weeks ago, falling 25-1. The Patriots have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Harding's victory was their first in the conference, bumping their conference record up to 1-8 and their overall record up to 3-11. As for Camden, they now have a losing record of 1-2.

Harding couldn't quite finish off Camden when the teams last played back in April and fell 12-10. Can the Knights avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.