The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders will head out on the road to face off against the McArthur Mustangs at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. St. Thomas Aquinas will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.
On Wednesday, St. Thomas Aquinas earned a 7-3 victory over Stoneman Douglas.
Anthony Ciscar tossed a big game, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts every time he's pitched this season.
On the hitting side, Zack Malvasio was incredible, going 1-for-2 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Andrew Alvarez, who scored two runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
McArthur has not done well against Cooper City recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Wednesday. McArthur blew past Cooper City 7-1. Considering McArthur has won four games by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Tyler Smith and Garvey Person made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Smith tossed six innings while giving up just one earned run off three hits. Meanwhile, Person pitched an inning while giving up no earned runs or hits (he also didn't allow any walks). At the plate, Smith went 3-for-4 with a triple, a run, and an RBI, while Person scored two runs while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Isnedit Fernandez was excellent, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with a double.
St. Thomas Aquinas' win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-3. Those good results were due in large part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.0 runs per game. As for McArthur, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 9-3.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. St. Thomas Aquinas hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like McArthur struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5 per game. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
St. Thomas Aquinas was able to grind out a solid win over McArthur when the teams last played back in April of 2023, winning 3-0. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Thomas Aquinas since the squad 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
