Baseball Game Preview: Liberty Patriots vs. Stockdale Mustangs

For the second straight game, Liberty will face off against Stockdale. The Patriots will host the Mustangs at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

Liberty made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Stockdale, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Patriots fell just short of the Mustangs by a score of 5-3 on Wednesday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest defeat the Patriots have suffered against the Mustangs since May 19, 2023.

For Stockdale's part, Salvatore Russo looked comfortable as he pitched 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.

On the hitting side, Ethan Madriaga was incredible, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with one home run and two RBI. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high. Eli Saunders was another key player, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

The win made it two in a row for Stockdale and bumps their season record up to 19-8. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.5 runs over those games. As for Liberty, they have been struggling recently as they've lost 11 of their last 14 games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 11-16 record this season.

Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Liberty hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.9 home runs per game. However, it's not like Stockdale struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.9 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.