Baseball Game Preview: Columbia Crimson Tide vs. Milton Hershey Spartans

The Columbia Crimson Tide will head out to challenge the Milton Hershey Spartans at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Columbia will be strutting in after a victory while Milton Hershey will be coming in after a loss.

Columbia is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They were the clear victors by a 15-0 margin over Lancaster Mennonite on Wednesday. The Crimson Tide have beaten the Blazers the last eight times they've met, but they better watch out: this was the closest the Blazers has come to flipping the script.

Cameron McClair was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit over four innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one triple, one stolen base, and one run.

In other batting news, John Buzzendore was a standout: he went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Chase Marley, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI.

Columbia always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .667. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Milton Hershey was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They lost 15-0 to Camp Hill.

Columbia now has a winning record of 9-8. As for Milton Hershey, their loss dropped their record down to 1-10.

Columbia took their win against Milton Hershey in their previous matchup back in March of 2024 by a conclusive 9-1 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Crimson Tide since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.