Baseball Game Preview: Progreso Red Ants vs. Raymondville Bearkats

The Progreso Red Ants are taking a road trip to face off against the Raymondville Bearkats at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Progreso has given up an average of 7.1 runs per game this season, but Friday's game will give them a chance to turn things around.

Progreso came into their game on Saturday off a hard-fought close win, but unfortunately suffered a serious change of fortune. They lost 19-2 to Rio Hondo. The defeat continues a trend for the Red Ants in their meetings with the Bobcats: they've now lost eight in a row.

Meanwhile, Raymondville never let their opponents score on Tuesday. They blew past Santa Rosa 14-0. Considering the Bearkats have won nine contests by more than five runs this season, Tuesday's blowout was nothing new.

Justin Rodriguez made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over five innings pitched. Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 1-for-4. He is on a roll when it comes to stolen bases, as he's now snagged at least one in each of the last three games he's played.

In other batting news, Noel Reta was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 3-for-4. Raymondville is undefeated when Reta posts two or more runs, but 6-8 otherwise. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaime Rigo Villegas, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in two of his four plate appearances.

Raymondville is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-8 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Progreso, their loss dropped their record down to 12-5.

Progreso suffered a grim 14-1 defeat to Raymondville in their previous matchup two weeks ago. Can the Red Ants avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.