Saint Francis and Serra are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2017, but likely not for long. The Saint Francis Lancers will head out on the road to challenge the Serra Padres at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams have allowed few runs on average, (Saint Francis: 3.6, Serra: 1.8) so any runs scored will be well earned.
On Tuesday, Saint Francis didn't have quite enough to beat Valley Christian and fell 3-1. The loss unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for Saint Francis in their matchups with Valley Christian: they've now lost four in a row.
Landon Kim spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on six hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't pitched less than five innings in seven consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Saint Francis saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Luke DeVine, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, Serra stacked a ninth blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Tuesday. They were the clear victor by a 7-0 margin over Bellarmine College Prep. Winning may never get old, but Serra sure is getting used to it with their third in a row.
The result came thanks to Sam Kretsch's shutout, as he gave up just eight hits and racked up eight Ks.
On the hitting side, Josiah Rodriguez was incredible, firing off two home runs, three runs, and four RBI while going 3-for-4. Another player making a difference was Ian Josephson, who scored two runs while going 2-for-4.
Saint Francis' defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-10-1. As for Serra, their victory was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-3.
Saint Francis came out on top in a nail-biter against Serra when the teams last played back in May of 2023, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for Saint Francis since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
