Baseball Game Preview: David Anderson Blue Devils vs. Southern Indians

David Anderson has gone 8-2 against Southern recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Blue Devils will venture away from home to challenge the Indians at 5:00 p.m. David Anderson is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8 runs per game this season.

While David Anderson's victory against Malvern wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Blue Devils had just enough and edged out the Hornets 5-3. The win continues a trend for the Blue Devils in their matchups with the Hornets: they've now won three in a row.

Bryce Esarey

Batters Struck Out

04/25/26 @ Malvern	10
04/17/26 @ United	1
04/15/26 @ East Palestine	3
05/14/25 @ Beaver Local	6
05/09/25 @ Jackson-Milton	2
05/01/25 @ Chaney	13

Bryce Esarey made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in May of 2025. He was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-3 with two runs and one double. He has become a key player for David Anderson: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 1-7 otherwise.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Mason Jones, who went 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI. He is becoming a predictor of David Anderson's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 3-7 when he doesn't).

Meanwhile, Southern was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their seventh straight defeat. They came up short against Columbiana, falling 20-0.

Southern's loss dropped their record down to 3-8. As for David Anderson, the victory got them back to even at 7-7.

Southern's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: David Anderson hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .313. It's a different story for Southern, though, as they've only averaged .167. Will they be able to contain David Anderson's hitters?

David Anderson got the 'W' in their previous meeting back in April of 2025 against Southern by a conclusive 11-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Blue Devils since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.