Baseball Game Preview: Franklin Pierce Cardinals vs. Eatonville Cruisers

For the second straight game, Franklin Pierce will face off against Eatonville. The Cardinals will host the Cruisers at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Franklin Pierce is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 9.1 runs per game this season.

Franklin Pierce's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. Everything went their way against Eatonville as they made off with a 12-0 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Cardinals considering their one-run performance the contest before.

Jaxon Harpel

Earned Runs

03/28/25 @ Orting	4
03/22/25 @ East Valley	3
04/09/25 vs Clover Park	1

Jaxon Harpel was a major factor no matter where he played. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Franklin Pierce is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 3-4 otherwise. Harpel was also solid in the batter's box, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with two RBI and one run.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Elijah Sledge, who went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases, two runs, and two RBI. He is becoming a predictor of Franklin Pierce's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 2-4 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Lucas Larson, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI.

Franklin Pierce always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .531. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Eatonville only posted an OBP of .190.

Franklin Pierce has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-4 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.6 runs on average over those games. As for Eatonville, their defeat dropped their record down to 4-8.

Eatonville's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Franklin Pierce hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .348. It's a different story for Eatonville, though, as they've only averaged .228. Will they be able to contain Franklin Pierce's hitters? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.