Baseball Game Preview: Brother Rice Crusaders vs. Loyola Academy Ramblers

The Brother Rice Crusaders will venture away from home to take on the Loyola Academy Ramblers at 4:45 p.m. on Monday. Brother Rice will be looking to extend their current 21-game winning streak.

Brother Rice's pitching crew heads into the match hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. They were the clear victors by a 13-0 margin over St. Rita. The Crusaders might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 12 contests by six runs or more this season.

Brayden McKendrick

Batters Struck Out (Career)

05/03/25 @ St. Rita	9
04/10/25 @ Lyons	8
03/27/24 vs Marian Catholic	8
03/16/24 vs Glenwood	7
03/28/25 vs St. Patrick	6

Brayden McKendrick tossed a big game, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high.

On the hitting side, Gavin Triezenberg and Conner Stack did most of the damage at the plate: Triezenberg went 3-for-4 with three runs, four RBI, and one stolen base, while Stack went 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most RBI Triezenberg has posted over his last 11 games. The team also got some help courtesy of Jackson Natanek, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.

Brother Rice kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in four consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Saturday just wasn't the day for Loyola Academy's offense. They took a 3-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of St. Laurence on Saturday. The Ramblers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Brother Rice's win was their eighth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 22-1. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 14.5 runs over those games. As for Loyola Academy, their defeat dropped their record down to 9-14.

Brother Rice took their win against Loyola Academy when the teams last played back in April of 2024 by a conclusive 8-0 score. Will the Crusaders repeat their success, or do the Ramblers have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.