Baseball Game Preview: Albany Falcons vs. Shaker Bison

Albany is 0-9 against Shaker since May of 2016 but things could change on Thursday. The Falcons will look to defend their home field against the Bison at 11:00 a.m. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with Albany sitting on three straight victories and Shaker on five.

If Albany beats Shaker with five runs on Thursday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two contests with that exact score. The Falcons had just enough and edged out Bethlehem Central 5-4 on Monday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Falcons have posted since April 9, 2024.

Andrew Prim

Stolen Base

04/14/25 vs Bethlehem Central	1
04/11/25 @ Guilderland	2
04/09/25 @ Schenectady	1

The team relied heavily on Andrew Prim, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Prim is crushing it when it comes to stolen bases: he's snagged at least one every time he's taken the field this season.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Shaker). They blew past Rome Free Academy 14-7 on Tuesday. The result was nothing new for the Bison, who have now won three games by six runs or more so far this season.

Tom Case was incredible, going a perfect 5-for-5 with one home run, four runs, and five RBI. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 2.2 runs per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Brayden Akley, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.

Shaker was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .382. That's the best batting average they've posted all season.

Shaker pushed their record up to 5-0 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs over those games. As for Albany, their victory bumped their record up to 3-1.

Albany couldn't quite finish off Shaker in their previous matchup back in May of 2024 and fell 8-6. Can the Falcons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.