First Coast is 1-9 against Sandalwood since March of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The First Coast Buccaneers will be staying on the road to face off against the Sandalwood Saints at 6:00 p.m. First Coast's pitching crew has only allowed 2.3 runs per game this season, so Sandalwood's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Last Saturday, First Coast came up short against Columbia and fell 6-1. The result shouldn't come as a shock considering that's the fewest runs First Coast has scored all season.
First Coast got a good showing from Hayden Carns, who pitched 2.2 innings while giving up just one earned run off one hit.
On the hitting side, Robert Bryson made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases. He has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last four times he's played.
Meanwhile, while Sandalwood put up plenty of runs on Monday, the same can't be said for Parker. Sandalwood blew past Parker 11-0.
Andrew Detlefson looked comfortable as he pitched 1.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also didn't allow any walks).
At the plate, Daniel Riker was excellent, scoring three runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Another player making a difference was Trenton Baskin, who scored a run and stole three bases while going 2-for-4.
First Coast's defeat dropped their record down to 7-3. As for Sandalwood, their win bumped their record up to 7-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. First Coast hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Sandalwood struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
First Coast might still be hurting after the 16-5 loss they got from Sandalwood when the teams last played back in March of 2023. Thankfully for First Coast, Tanner Reed (who struck out ten batters over 5.2 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off three hits) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps