Baseball Game Preview: Del Mar Dons vs. Santa Clara Bruins

Del Mar hasn't had much luck against Santa Clara recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. The Del Mar Dons will venture away from home to take on the Santa Clara Bruins at 7:00 p.m.

Del Mar is headed into Saturday's matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fifth straight game on Thursday. They lost 9-1 to Evergreen Valley.

Del Mar saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Brandon Avery, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4. Isaiah Molina also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last contest, Santa Clara made sure to put some runs up on the board against Saratoga on Thursday. Santa Clara blew past Saratoga 12-2. The Bruins might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five games by six runs or more this season.

Jaxton Chao made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching five innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.

In other batting news, John Kepner was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Greg Salgado, who scored a run and stole a base while going 4-for-4.

Santa Clara was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Santa Clara's record now sits at 7-2. As for Del Mar, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-6.

Del Mar couldn't quite get it done against Santa Clara in their previous matchup back in March of 2023 as they fell 4-1. Can Del Mar avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.