Baseball Game Preview: Notre Dame (SO) Knights vs. St. Francis Golden Knights

Notre Dame (SO) has gone 9-1 against St. Francis recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Knights will look to defend their home field against the Golden Knights at 3:30 p.m. Notre Dame (SO) will be strutting in after a victory while St. Francis will be coming in after a loss.

Notre Dame (SO) took a eight-run defeat the last time they faced off against Loyola, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Knights came out on top in a nail-biter against the Cubs on Friday, sneaking past 8-6. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Notre Dame (SO) got a great performance from AJ LaSota as he didn't allow a single hit over five innings pitched. LaSota also allowed no hits, which is notable because the Knights are 6-2 when he allows at most two hits, but 7-11 otherwise.

Dominic Cadiz

Runs

05/02/25 vs Loyola	3
04/29/25 vs Loyola	2
04/04/25 vs Bishop Alemany	2
03/19/25 @ Chaminade	2
02/28/25 @ Gahr	2
+ 10 more games

At the plate, Dominic Cadiz was incredible, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and two RBI. Notre Dame (SO) is 5-1 when Cadiz posts two or more runs, but 8-12 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Phelan Bucknor, who went 2-for-3 with one triple and one run.

Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for St. Francis' offense. They took a 4-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of Sierra Canyon on Friday.

Notre Dame (SO)'s win was their tenth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 13-13. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.2 runs on average over those games. As for St. Francis, their loss dropped their record down to 10-16.

Notre Dame (SO) came out on top in a nail-biter against St. Francis when the teams last played back in April of 2024, sneaking past 6-4. Will the Knights repeat their success, or do the Golden Knights have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.