Baseball Game Preview: Santa Clara Bruins vs. Saratoga Falcons

The Santa Clara Bruins will challenge the Saratoga Falcons at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Neither of those teams managed to put together many runs in their previous contests, so the offenses might be a little more motivated than usual.

The home team had won the previous five meetings between Santa Clara and Fremont, and Fremont kept the tradition alive. Santa Clara fell 6-2 to Fremont on Tuesday. The match marked the Bruins' lowest-scoring game so far this season.

Andrew Traffas made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-2 with one home run and two RBI. That home run marked the first that he launched this season. Dominick Chavarria was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.

Meanwhile, Thursday just wasn't the day for Saratoga's offense. They took a 3-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of Fremont on Thursday.

Santa Clara's loss was their first in the league, dropping their league record down to 3-1 and their overall record down to 6-2. As for Saratoga, they dropped their record down to 1-4 with the defeat, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Santa Clara has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 8.5 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Saratoga struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Santa Clara beat Saratoga 4-1 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Will Santa Clara repeat their success, or does Saratoga have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.