Baseball Game Preview: Dr. Phillips Panthers vs. University Cougars

A feisty cat fight will be fought as the Panthers challenge the Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Dr. Phillips will be strutting in after a victory while University will be coming in after a loss.

Dr. Phillips is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Their pitcher stepped up to hand Evans a 15-0 shutout on Thursday. The win continues a trend for the Panthers in their matchups with the Trojans: they've now won six in a row.

Joseph Kitchens looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over four innings pitched.

Jose Diaz

Runs Batted In (Career)

02/27/25 @ Evans	2
02/20/25 @ Lake Howell	1
02/13/25 @ Olympia	1
02/12/25 vs St. Cloud	1
04/10/24 vs Apopka	1

On the hitting side, Dr. Phillips got a big performance out of Jose Diaz, who scored a run and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. The dominant performance also gave Diaz a new career-high in RBI (two). Another player making a difference was Ryan Pyka, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2.

Dr. Phillips was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .391. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Evans only posted a batting average of .154.

Meanwhile, University was not able to break out of their rough patch on Wednesday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They fell 5-2 to Ocoee.

Dr. Phillips picked up their first road victory, bumping their record up to 2-6. As for University, their loss dropped their record down to 2-4.

Dr. Phillips skirted past University 7-6 in their previous matchup back in March of 2021. Will Dr. Phillips repeat their success, or does University have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.