Baseball Preview: Albany Cougars vs. Saint Mary's Panthers
The Albany Cougars will look to defend their home field on Tuesday against the Saint Mary's Panthers at 3:30 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Friday, Albany was able to grind out a solid victory over St. Patrick-St. Vincent, taking the game 13-9. The win made it back-to-back victories for Albany.
Jonah Fisher tossed a big game, pitching six innings while giving up just two earned runs off six hits.
On the hitting side, Joaquin Stuart and Teo Thompson did most of the damage at the plate: Stuart went 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, four RBI, and two runs, while Thompson scored four runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his five plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Dexter Johnson, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Meanwhile, with a playoff game on the line, Saint Mary's rose to the challenge on Thursday. They beat the Bruins by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 12-2. Saint Mary's might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won seven matches by six runs or more this season.
Logan Donoviel was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing five innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. Donoviel was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.
In other batting news, Mateo Morales was incredible, going 2-for-3 with a home run and five RBI. Isaac Fendel was another key contributor, scoring three runs while going 2-for-4.
Albany's win ended a three-game drought on the road and puts them at 16-8. As for Saint Mary's, they are on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last ten matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 13-9 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Albany hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Saint Mary's struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Albany came out on top in a nail-biter against Saint Mary's in their previous meeting back in March, sneaking past 7-6. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Morales, who fired off two home runs and three RBI while going 2-for-4. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Albany still be able to contain Morales? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
