Baseball Game Preview: Albany Cougars vs. Salesian College Preparatory Pride

For the second straight game, Albany will face off against Salesian College Preparatory. The Cougars will be playing at home against the Pride at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Albany's favor as the squad sits on three straight wins at home while Salesian College Preparatory has been banged up by eight consecutive losses on the road.

Albany will roll into the matchup after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up two runs on Monday, then bounced right back against Salesian College Preparatory on Wednesday. The Cougars blew past the Pride 10-3. The result was nothing new for the Cougars, who have now won six games by six runs or more so far this season.

Drake Barrett tossed a big game, tossing five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits.

At the plate, Albany let Tour? Hudson and Dexter Johnson run wild. Hudson went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI, while Johnson went 3-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. That's the most hits Johnson has posted since back in April of 2024. Preston McGowen was another key player, going 1-for-4 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI.

Albany kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Salesian College Preparatory only managed two hits.

Albany is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.6 runs on average over those games. As for Salesian College Preparatory, their loss dropped their record down to 1-15.

Salesian College Preparatory's hitters will have their work cut out for them on Friday. Albany has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. It's a different story for Salesian College Preparatory, though, as they've been averaging only 3.6 strikeouts. Will Albany keep running through batters, or will the Pride buck the trend? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.