The West Boca Raton Bulls will venture away from home to challenge the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
West Boca Raton is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 11 runs on Monday, they were much more limited against Wellington on Thursday. They came up short against the Wolverines, falling 10-2.
Casey Turner was cooking despite his team's loss, going a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base and one double. That double was his first of the season.
Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last match, St. Thomas Aquinas made sure to put some runs up on the board against Nova on Thursday. The Raiders blew past the Titans 12-1. Considering the Raiders have won 11 games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.
Brady Buxbaum made a big impact no matter where he played. He tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Buxbaum was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
In other pitching news, Thomas Giltner looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched.
Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Andrew Alvarez, who fired off two home runs, five RBI, and three runs while going 4-for-4. That's the most home runs he has posted since back in March of 2024. Another player making a difference was Cole Lasher, who went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI.
St. Thomas Aquinas has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 16-5-1 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.0 runs over those games. As for West Boca Raton, their loss dropped their record down to 8-12.
West Boca Raton came out on top in a nail-biter against St. Thomas Aquinas in their previous matchup back in May of 2024, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bulls since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
