The Illiana Christian Vikings will venture away from home to square off against the Lake Central Indians at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Both come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
While Vikings fans will have to keep waiting for their team to come home, they shouldn't be too worried about the road trip considering the result of Thursday's season opener. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 win over Boone Grove on Thursday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Vikings have posted since May 18, 2024.
Illiana Christian saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Spencer Bandstra, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Meanwhile, Lake Central put another one in the bag on Wednesday to keep their perfect season alive. Everything went their way against Valparaiso as they made off with a 10-0 win. Give the Indians' pitching crew some credit: that's the team's third straight shutout.
Luke O'Keefe tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over 5.2 innings pitched. What's more, he posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in May of 2024.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Drew Kosteba, who went 3-for-4 with two triples, five RBI, and two runs. Those two triples gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ryder Fernandez, who scored three runs and stole two bases while going 3-for-3.
Lake Central always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .515. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Valparaiso only posted an OBP of .292.
Illiana Christian came up short against Lake Central in their previous matchup back in May of 2018, falling 6-1. Can the Vikings avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
