Gulf Coast and Barron Collier are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2015, but likely not for long. The Gulf Coast Sharks will head out to square off against the Barron Collier Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Gulf Coast's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They blew past Golden Gate 9-0. The Sharks haven't had any issues with the Titans recently, as the game was their ninth consecutive win against them.
Preston Compton
| 03/04/25 @ Golden Gate | 1 |
| 03/03/25 vs IMG Academy Black | 1 |
| 02/28/25 vs Naples | 1 |
Thomas Eaton and Preston Compton were a major factor no matter where they played. Throwing, Eaton pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Meanwhile, Compton didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out nine over four innings pitched. The dominant performance gave Eaton a new career-low in hits. At bat, Eaton went 1-for-2 with three RBI and one double, while Compton scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Compton is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.
In other pitching news, Nash Tuner looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one hit in four consecutive appearances.
Back at the plate, Gulf Coast got a big performance out of Michael Peterson, who scored a run and stole Two bases. while going 2-for-4. That's the most stolen bases Peterson has posted since back in March of 2024. Brandon Borrego also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen bases of the season.
Meanwhile, Barron Collier had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 15 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 15-2 margin over the Golden Eagles. The result was nothing new for the Cougars, who have now won five games by eight runs or more so far this season.
Tucker Engel tossed a big game, pitching 4.1 innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits.
At the plate, Mason Humphrey was incredible, scoring two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of John Minerva, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Barron Collier pushed their record up to 7-2 with the victory, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.6 runs on average over those games. As for Gulf Coast, their record is now 7-3.
Gulf Coast came out on top in a nail-biter against Barron Collier when the teams last played back in March of 2024, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Gulf Coast since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
