Baseball Game Preview: Mechanicsburg Wildcats vs. State College Little Lions

The Mechanicsburg Wildcats are taking a road trip to face off against the State College Little Lions at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday. Mechanicsburg's pitching crew has only allowed 3.7 runs per game this season, so State College's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Mechanicsburg not only won on Tuesday, but they posted their biggest win since April 4th (when they won 10-2). They blew past Central Dauphin 12-4. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Wildcats considering their two-run performance the matchup before.

Mechanicsburg got a great performance from James Markowitz as he pitched 5.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off six hits. Markowitz has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances.

Jager Nailor

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/29/25 vs Central Dauphin	4
04/04/25 @ Central York	3
03/21/25 vs Manheim Township	2
03/19/25 @ Dover	2
04/16/25 vs State College	1

At the plate, Jager Nailor was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and four RBI. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high. Dane Mark was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two runs, two RBI, and one double.

Mechanicsburg always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .525. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in four consecutive games.

Meanwhile, State College came up short against Cedar Cliff on Tuesday, falling 10-3. That's two games in a row now that the Little Lions have lost by exactly seven runs.

Mechanicsburg has been performing well recently as they've won seven of their last nine contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-5 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for State College, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-7.

Mechanicsburg was able to grind out a solid victory over State College in their previous meeting two weeks ago, winning 5-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.