Baseball Game Preview: Servite Friars vs. Orange Lutheran Lancers

Servite is 1-9 against Orange Lutheran since May of 2021 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Friars will welcome the Lancers at 3:15 p.m. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Servite 2.6, Orange Lutheran 1.9) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Servite is headed into Tuesday's match looking for a big change in momentum after dropping their fourth straight game on Saturday. They took a 5-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of St. John Bosco.

On Thursday fans watched as two of the best teams in the nation hit the field. Orange Lutheran's pitcher stepped up to hand Santa Margarita a 1-0 shutout. The win was familiar territory for the Lancers, who have now won six games in a row.

Not much got past Sam Principe, who gave up just three hits to keep Santa Margarita off the board. Principe has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in eight consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Josiah Hartshorn was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and one run. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Hamilton Friedberg, who went 2-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI.

Orange Lutheran's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 17-4. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Servite, their defeat dropped their record down to 12-9.

Servite couldn't quite get it done against Orange Lutheran in their previous matchup back in March of 2024 as they fell 5-2. Can the Friars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.