Baseball Game Preview: Florin Panthers vs. West Campus Warriors

For the second straight game, Florin will face off against West Campus. Florin will be playing at home against West Campus at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Florin has struggled recently with seven losses in a row, while West Campus will arrive with four straight victories.

Florin came up short against West Campus on Tuesday, falling 19-1. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Panthers have suffered against the Warriors since April 20, 2021.

For West Campus' part, Jarrett Arias was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit (and only one walk). What's more, Arias gave up only one walk, the fewest he's had since back in February. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. He has become a key player for West Campus: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 3-5 otherwise.

In other batting news, West Campus got a massive performance out of Levi Marculescu, who went 2-for-3 with five RBI, two runs, and two doubles. Those five RBI gave Marculescu a new career-high. Maxton Creeger was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing four bases while going 3-for-4.

West Campus kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 16 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4.2 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 contests they've averaged 11.2.

West Campus pushed their record up to 9-5 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Florin, their loss dropped their record down to 0-6.