O'Connor has gone 8-2 against Liberty recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. O'Connor will be playing in front of their home fans against Liberty at 3:45 p.m. O'Connor is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.2 runs per game this season.
O'Connor is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Basha, who was ranked fourth at the time (O'Connor was ranked 14th). O'Connor walked away with a 9-4 win over Basha on Wednesday. Nine seems to be a good number for the Eagles as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Maci Jones
| 03/26/25 vs Basha | 10 |
| 03/06/25 vs Coronado | 9 |
| 03/01/25 @ Highland | 6 |
| 03/11/25 @ Hamilton | 5 |
| 03/08/25 @ Mater Dei | 4 |
Maci Jones spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and three unearned) runs on four hits and racked up ten Ks. Those ten strikeouts gave her a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Sydnee Williams and Raegan Holtorf did most of the damage at the plate: Williams went 3-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and one triple, while Holtorf went 2-for-3 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. That's the most hits Williams has posted since back in February. Avery Gourlay was another key player, scoring a run while going 2-for-3.
O'Connor always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .541. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Basha only posted an OBP of .226.
Meanwhile, after soaring to 23 runs the game before, Liberty was a bit more limited in their game on Tuesday. They came up short against Mountain Ridge, falling 7-1. The loss continues a trend for the Lions in their meetings with the Mountain Lions: they've now lost four in a row.
Liberty saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Tyanna Lujan, who went 1-for-2 with one RBI. Violet Mitchell also deserves some recognition as she snagged her first stolen base of the season.
O'Connor is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-6 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. Liberty's defeat dropped their record down to 6-6-1.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. O'Connor hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 1.1 home runs per game. However, it's not like Liberty struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 0.5 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Everything went O'Connor's way against Liberty in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, as O'Connor made off with a 19-1 victory. Does O'Connor have another victory up their sleeve, or will Liberty turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
