Baseball Game Preview: New Smyrna Beach Barracudas vs. Taylor Wildcats

The New Smyrna Beach Barracudas will venture away from home to challenge the Taylor Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. New Smyrna Beach's pitching crew has only allowed 3.3 runs per game this season, so Taylor's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

New Smyrna Beach is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering University just ended the team's five-game winning streak on Tuesday. They took a 5-2 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Titans.

New Smyrna Beach saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Landon McLain, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double.

Meanwhile, after soaring to 24 runs the game before, Taylor was a bit more limited in their game on Wednesday. They fell just short of Atlantic by a score of 3-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Wildcats have suffered since April 9, 2024.

Taylor's defeat was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 4-4. As for New Smyrna Beach, their loss dropped their record down to 6-3.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. New Smyrna Beach has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Taylor struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.6 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Everything went New Smyrna Beach's way against Taylor in their previous matchup two weeks ago, as New Smyrna Beach made off with a 9-3 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for New Smyrna Beach since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.