Baseball Game Preview: Florence-Carlton Falcons vs. Hamilton Broncs

The Florence-Carlton Falcons will venture away from home to challenge the Hamilton Broncs at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams are strolling into their games after big wins in their previous games.

Florence-Carlton is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Montana's top teams: Corvallis, who was ranked 18th at the time (Florence-Carlton was ranked 11th). The Falcons were the clear victors by an 11-1 margin over the Blue Devils on Thursday. The victory continues a trend for the Falcons in their matchups with the Blue Devils: they've now won four in a row.

Mason Arlington made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing two innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Arlington was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Patrick Duchien, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs. Those runs were his first of the season. Another player making a difference was Brodie Hinsdale, who went 2-for-4 with one stolen base and one run.

Florence-Carlton always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .567. That was just more of the same: they've now posted an OBP of .528 or higher in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hamilton). They never let Stevensville get on the board and left with a 13-0 win on Tuesday. The team's explosion at the plate also rewarded the Broncs with their most commanding win of the season.

The victory was the third in a row for Hamilton, bringing their record up to 4-1. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.7 runs on average over those games. As for Florence-Carlton, they now have a winning record of 6-5.

Florence-Carlton came out on top in a nail-biter against Hamilton when the teams last played back in April, sneaking past 5-4. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Falcons since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.