Baseball Game Preview: Harding Raiders vs. Mathews Mustangs

The Harding Raiders will challenge the Mathews Mustangs at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.

Having struggled with eight defeats in a row, Harding turned things around against Liberty on Monday. They were the clear victors by a 12-2 margin over the Leopards. The Raiders not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since April 24th (when they won 19-7).

Jaron Edmonds

Batters Struck Out (Career)

05/18/26 vs Liberty	5
03/30/26 vs Lakeside	3
04/10/26 @ McKinley	2
03/27/26 vs Bristol	2
04/03/26 @ East	1

Jaron Edmonds made a big impact no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing five innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. He has become a key player for Harding: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 2-17 otherwise.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Doug Pleacher, who went 1-for-2 with one home run and two runs. That's the most runs he has posted since back in April. Another player making a difference was Elias Johnson, who went 1-for-2 with two RBI.

Meanwhile, Mathews posted their closest victory since April 28th on Monday. They had just enough and edged out Chalker 9-8.

Mathews' win bumped their record up to 14-6. As for Harding, their victory bumped their record up to 6-17.