Baseball Game Preview: Miller City Wildcats vs. Bluffton Pirates

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Previous 4 Games

04/14/23 - Home	7-4 W
04/15/22 - Away	14-0 W
04/27/18 - Away	11-4 W
04/29/15 - Home	4-3 W

Miller City is a perfect 4-0 against Bluffton since April of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Friday. The Wildcats will look to defend their home field against the Pirates at 5:00 p.m. Miller City's pitching crew has only allowed 2.9 runs per game this season, so Bluffton's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Miller City is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Lincolnview just ended the team's six-game winning streak on Wednesday. They took an 8-3 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Lancers.

Meanwhile, Bluffton had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 4 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Thursday. They came out on top against the Wildcats by a score of 6-2. While the Pirates didn't have the best season last year (they finished 5-11), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.

Quinn Eachus spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just two earned runs on six hits and racked up six Ks. He also tossed a walk, which is notable because Bluffton is undefeated when he allows at most two walks, but 3-4 otherwise.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Blayne Hill, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one run, and one double. Another player making a difference was Luke Jebsen, who went 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI.

Bluffton's victory was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 6-4. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.7 runs on average over those games. As for Miller City, their loss dropped their record down to 8-2.

Miller City beat Bluffton 7-4 in their previous matchup back in April of 2023. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Pirates have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.