Baseball Recap: Brother Rice Beats St. Francis for Their Eighth Straight Win

Crusaders

Previous Games

04/11/25 @ St. Francis	15-3
04/10/25 @ Lyons	6-1
04/09/25 vs Fenwick	15-7
04/07/25 @ Leo	22-2
04/04/25 @ St. Xavier	12-6
+ 3 more games

Brother Rice entered their tilt with St. Francis on Friday with seven consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with eight. They were the clear victors by a 15-3 margin over the Spartans. For the Crusaders, this counts as revenge for the 6-5 victory the Spartans walked away with the last time they faced one another back in April of 2024.

Jackson Natanek made a splash while hitting and pitching. He tossed 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. What's more, he posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in April of 2024. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs while getting on base in all five of his plate appearances.

In other pitching news, Tadgh Callaghan tossed a big game, striking out six batters over 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits (and only one walk).

Back at the plate, Brady Cunningham was a standout: he scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in five of his six plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Gavin Triezenberg, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-5.

Brother Rice pushed their record up to 9-1 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 13.4 runs over those games. As for St. Francis, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 4-3.

Looking ahead, Brother Rice will look to defend their home field on Saturday against Chicago Hope Academy at 11:00 a.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (the Crusaders 4, Chicago Hope Academy 2.6) so any runs scored will be well earned. As for St. Francis, they will venture away from home to take on Glenbard South at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The Spartans' pitchers better be ready for this one: the Raiders have averaged an impressive 6.9 runs per game this season.