Jesuit is 2-8 against IMG Academy since April of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Jesuit Tigers will head out to face off against the IMG Academy Ascenders at 7:00 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average, (Jesuit 2.4, IMG Academy 2.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Jesuit's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They put the hurt on John Carroll Catholic with a sharp 8-0 win. The Tigers not only won on Friday, but they posted their biggest win since February 21st.
Ryan Thompson
| 03/14/25 vs John Carroll Catholic | 7 |
| 03/10/25 vs Miller School of Albemarle | 5 |
| 03/04/25 @ Neumann | 11 |
| 02/28/25 vs Killian | 5 |
| 02/22/25 vs Episcopal School of Jacksonville | 5 |
| 02/11/25 @ Lakeland Christian | 6 |
Ryan Thompson looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out seven over four innings pitched. He has been consistent : he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts any time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Jesuit got a massive performance out of Brody Smith, who scored two runs and stole Two bases. while going 3-for-4. That's the most runs Smith has posted since back in April of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Cannon Murtagh, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.
Jesuit always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .515. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, IMG Academy is ranked highly in their home state and on Saturday they took on another highly ranked team in the form of Magnolia Heights. IMG Academy came out on top in a nail-biter against Magnolia Heights, sneaking past 5-3. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Ascenders.
Oki Hosakawa looked comfortable as he tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit.
At the plate, Troy Carpenter was incredible, going a perfect 1-for-1 with one home run and four RBI. That home run marked the first that he launched this season. Another player making a difference was Nathan Eisfelder, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and two runs.
IMG Academy's victory was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.9 runs on average over those games. As for Jesuit, their record now sits at 11-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Tuesday. Jesuit hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like IMG Academy 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.
Jesuit came out on top in a nail-biter against IMG Academy when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 2-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for Jesuit since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
