Baseball Game Preview: Liberty Leopards vs. Cardinal Mooney Cardinals

The Liberty Leopards are taking a road trip to challenge the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

While Liberty's victory against Chaney wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. The Leopards won by a run and slipped past the Cowboys 4-3. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Leopards have posted since April 25, 2024.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Mooney entered their tilt with Springfield on Tuesday with three consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with four. They put the hurt on the Tigers with a sharp 14-4 victory. The Cardinals might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won ten contests by six runs or more this season.

Ryan Reese was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out seven batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going a perfect 3-for-3 with three stolen bases, three RBI, and two runs.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Andrew Bushey, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Taco Verroco was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one triple, one run, and one double.

Cardinal Mooney's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 16-6. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.7 runs over those games. As for Liberty, their win (their first of the season) made their record 1-16.

Liberty suffered a grim 13-1 defeat to Cardinal Mooney in their previous matchup back in April of 2019. Can the Leopards avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.