Baseball Game Preview: Catholic Memorial Crusaders vs. Martin Luther Spartans

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Previous 4 Games

06/05/18 - Neutral	6-5 W
04/30/18 - Home	5-4 W
05/30/17 - Neutral	10-0 W
05/06/16 - Away	16-9 W

Catholic Memorial is a perfect 4-0 against Martin Luther since May of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Crusaders will look to defend their home field against the Spartans at 7:30 p.m. Catholic Memorial has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the matchup with six straight defeats, while Martin Luther will come in with three straight victories.

Thursday just wasn't the day for Catholic Memorial's offense. They came up short against Arrowhead on Thursday, falling 8-0.

Meanwhile, Martin Luther hadn't done well against St. Thomas More recently (they were 0-9 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. The Spartans put the hurt on the Cavaliers with a sharp 8-2 win. The result was nothing new for the Spartans, who have now won 12 games by six runs or more so far this season.

Brendan Scheel made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with one home run, six RBI, and one double. Those six RBI gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Tino Pozos was excellent, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs. That's the most hits he has posted since back in April.

Martin Luther pushed their record up to 16-6 with the victory, which was their sixth straight on the road. Those road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.8 runs over those games. As for Catholic Memorial, their loss dropped their record down to 8-18.

Catholic Memorial came out on top in a nail-biter against Martin Luther when the teams last played back in June of 2018, sneaking past 6-5. Will the Crusaders repeat their success, or do the Spartans have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.