Jacksonville is 0-7 against South Central since April of 2022 but things could change on Thursday. The Cardinals will welcome the Falcons at 7:00 p.m.
Jacksonville is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 15 runs on Wednesday, they were much more limited against J.H. Rose on Tuesday. They took a 5-1 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Rampants.
Jacksonville saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Jaron Buie, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one double.
Meanwhile, South Central had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 3 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Tuesday. They blew past the Rams 16-4. Considering the Falcons have won six matchups by more than six runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.
Colby Jones was a standout: he went a perfect 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles. That's the most runs he has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Brody Brannan, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
South Central always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .630. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their OBP total in five consecutive games.
South Central's victory bumped their record up to 14-5. As for Jacksonville, their defeat dropped their record down to 10-10.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Jacksonville has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.2 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like South Central struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.3 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Jacksonville came up short against South Central in their previous meeting back in March, falling 7-2. Will the Cardinals have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
