Baseball Game Preview: New Providence Pioneers vs. Union Catholic Vikings

New Providence has gone 9-1 against Union Catholic recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Pioneers are taking a road trip to square off against the Vikings at 4:00 p.m. New Providence is coming into the match on a five-game losing streak.

Governor Livingston hit New Providence with a 11-run sixth inning on Wednesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Pioneers lost 15-3 to the Highlanders.

New Providence saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Michael Schmidt, who went 2-for-3 with one run and one double. That double marked the first that Schmidt has hit this season.

Union Catholic hadn't beaten Cranford on the road since April 26, 2016 but that history sure didn't bother them on Tuesday. The Vikings walked away with a 7-4 win over the Cougars.

Nick Anderson spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned (and one unearned) runs on four hits and racked up seven Ks.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Josiah Shapre, who went 2-for-4 with four stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI. Those four stolen bases gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Greg Viloria, who went 1-for-3 with three stolen bases.

Union Catholic kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Cranford only managed five hits.

Union Catholic's victory ended a four-game drought on the road and puts them at 8-4. As for New Providence, their loss dropped their record down to 2-11.

New Providence couldn't quite finish off Union Catholic when the teams last played back in April and fell 4-2. Can the Pioneers avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.