Baseball Game Preview: Manchester Greyhounds vs. Fairfield Lions

Manchester hasn't had much luck against Fairfield recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Greyhounds will host the Lions at 5:00 p.m. Manchester will be strutting in after a win while Fairfield will be coming in after a defeat.

Last Tuesday, Manchester made easy work of Clay and carried off a 9-3 victory. The Greyhounds haven't had any issues with the Panthers recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.

Traevyn Hilderbrand

Batters Struck Out (Career)

04/08/25 vs Clay	4
04/22/24 @ Augusta	3
04/15/24 vs Augusta	3
04/08/24 @ West Union	2

Traevyn Hilderbrand was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he tossed six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was also big at the plate, scoring a run and stealing three bases while going 1-for-3.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Thomas Barnhart, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and four RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April of 2024. Luke Applegate was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.

Meanwhile, after some red-hot attacks at the plate in their last four games, Fairfield finally came back down to earth on Wednesday. They came up short against Lynchburg-Clay, falling 8-0. The matchup marked the first time this season in which the Lions were not able to get on the board.

The victory got Manchester back to even at 1-1. As for Fairfield, their loss was their first in the conference, dropping their conference record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 3-3.

Manchester came out on top in a nail-biter against Fairfield in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, sneaking past 2-1. Will the Greyhounds repeat their success, or do the Lions have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.