Baseball Game Preview: St. Anthony Roman Legion vs. St. Francis Mariners

St. Anthony hasn't had much luck against St. Francis recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Roman Legion will face off against the Mariners at 4:30 p.m.

St. Anthony is headed into Thursday's matchup looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their eighth straight game dating back to last season last Monday. They lost 10-0 to St. John's Northwestern Military Academy.

Meanwhile, St. Francis came tearing into Tuesday's game with six straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 8.5 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They put the hurt on the Lions with a sharp 13-2 victory. The Mariners might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven contests by eight runs or more this season.

Tyler Budzien and Kingston Liddell made a big impact no matter where they played. On the mound, Budzien struck out 13 batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off one hit. Meanwhile, Liddell pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. With that strong performance, Budzien is now averaging an impressive 5.6 strikeouts per game. At bat, Budzien got on base in four of his five plate appearances with two stolen bases, four RBI, and two runs, while Liddell went 3-for-4 with two doubles, one run, and one RBI. St. Francis is undefeated when Budzien posts two or more runs, but 5-6 otherwise.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Jordan Wuerl, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs and one stolen base. Those three runs gave him a new career-high.

St. Francis' win was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-6. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for St. Anthony, their loss dropped their record down to 0-4.

St. Anthony suffered a grim 18-0 defeat to St. Francis when the teams last played back in May of 2024. Can the Roman Legion avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.