Softball Game Preview: Menendez Falcons vs. Orange Park Raiders

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Previous Games

02/21/25 - Home	17-13 W
04/18/24 - Away	6-7 L
03/01/24 - Home	5-2 W
04/29/19 - Neutral	2-6 L
04/02/19 - Away	8-7 W
+ 5 more games

Menendez and Orange Park are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2016, but likely not for long. The Menendez Falcons are taking a road trip to square off against the Orange Park Raiders at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Menendez has given up an average of 9 runs per game this season, so hopefully the team got some pitching drills in this week.

Menendez is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 17 runs on Friday, they were much more limited against Creekside on Tuesday. They lost 12-2 to the Knights. The defeat continues a trend for the Falcons in their meetings with the Knights: they've now lost four in a row.

Meanwhile, Orange Park didn't have quite enough to beat Bishop Snyder on Tuesday and fell 4-2.

Orange Park saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Regan Barnett, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Braylee Absher also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen bases of the season.

Menendez now has a losing record of 4-5. As for Orange Park, they dropped their record down to 1-8 with the loss, which was their third straight on the road.

Orange Park's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Thursday. Menendez has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.1 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Orange Park, though, as they've been averaging only 2 strikeouts. Will Menendez keep running through batters, or will Orange Park buck the trend?

Menendez beat Orange Park 17-13 in their previous meeting back in February. The rematch might be a little tougher for Menendez since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.