Baseball Game Preview: Jacksonville Titans vs. North Little Rock Charging Wildcats

The Jacksonville Titans will venture away from home to face off against the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats at 5:00 p.m. on Monday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Jacksonville was handed a ten-run loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Wednesday. They skirted past Central 9-8. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Titans have posted since March 29, 2024.

While North Little Rock didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-17), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Little Rock Southwest a 19-0 shutout on Thursday. The victory continues a trend for the Charging Wildcats in their matchups with the Gryphons: they've now won seven in a row.

James Harms made a big impact no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Furthermore, he didn't allow a single walk, the first time he has blanked an opponent since back in March of 2024. He was also stellar in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing Two bases. while going 2-for-2. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in stolen bases.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jackson Estes, who went 2-for-3 with one home run, four RBI, and two runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Ben Santini, who scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.

North Little Rock was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .529. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .310 or higher in three consecutive contests.

North Little Rock pushed their record up to 4-0 with the win, which was their third straight on the road. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs over those games. As for Jacksonville, their record now sits at 3-1.