Baseball Game Preview: Liberty Raiders vs. James Monroe Mavericks

The Liberty Raiders will challenge the James Monroe Mavericks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Liberty's pitching crew has only allowed 3.9 runs per game this season, so James Monroe's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Liberty took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Van as they made off with a 15-7 win. The result was nothing new for the Raiders, who have now won four games by eight runs or more so far this season.

Meanwhile, James Monroe came into Thursday's match having lost three straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They walked away with a 6-2 victory over Greenbrier West on Thursday.

Peyton Gardinier and Bodie Zickefoose made a big impact while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Gardinier didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over six innings pitched. Meanwhile, Zickefoose pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Gardinier is becoming a predictor of James Monroe's success: when he allows at most one hit the team is 3-1 (and 8-9 when he doesn't). At the plate, Gardinier went 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double, while Zickefoose got on base in two of his four plate appearances with one stolen base and one run.

In other batting news, Kadyn Hines was incredible, going 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Cameron Crislip was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run and one stolen base.

James Monroe lost a few balls and finished the game with two home runs. That's the most home runs they've managed all season.

Liberty's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 6-5. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for James Monroe, they now have a winning record of 11-10.