Baseball Game Preview: Mater Dei Monarchs vs. Orange Lutheran Lancers

Mater Dei is 2-8 against Orange Lutheran since May of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Monarchs will look to defend their home field against the Lancers at 6:30 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Mater Dei 3.2, Orange Lutheran 2.1) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Mater Dei is headed into Tuesday's contest looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fifth straight game on Friday. They lost 8-1 to St. John Bosco.

Meanwhile, while Orange Lutheran put up some runs on Friday, the same can't be said for Servite. The Lancers were the clear victors by a 7-0 margin over the Friars. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last three times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Orange Lutheran got a great performance from Sam Principe as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over five innings pitched. Principe has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in nine consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Wyatt Hanoian, who went 2-for-3 with one home run and five RBI. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Brady Murrietta, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI.

Orange Lutheran's victory was their sixth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-5. Those home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Mater Dei, their loss dropped their record down to 13-11.

Mater Dei couldn't quite finish off Orange Lutheran in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 and fell 3-1. Can the Monarchs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.