Baseball Game Preview: Rodriguez Mustangs vs. River City Raiders

The Rodriguez Mustangs are taking a road trip to square off against the River City Raiders at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Rodriguez's favor is that they have posted at least ten runs in their last three contests.

Rodriguez barely beat Sheldon the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. Rodriguez's pitcher stepped up to hand Sheldon a 10-0 shutout on Friday. The Mustangs' pitching crew has been rock solid lately; the team hasn't given up a run in their last three matches.

Jackson Kolakoski tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. What's more, he posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in April of 2024.

On the hitting side, Justin Gregory and Drew Beasley did most of the damage at the plate: Gregory scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3, while Beasley scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3. That's the most runs Gregory has posted since back in April of 2024. Benjaman 'BJ' Smith was another key player, scoring two runs while going 2-for-2.

Rodriguez was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in three consecutive games.

Meanwhile, River City fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against Wood on Thursday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Wildcats by a score of 6-5. That makes it the first time this season the Raiders have let down their home crowd.

River City saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Zach Scorza, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4. Conner Gardner also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Rodriguez is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 6-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.6 runs over those games. River City suffered their first home loss, dropping their record down to 9-4.

Rodriguez might still be hurting after the 12-1 defeat they got from River City when the teams last played back in April of 2021. Can Rodriguez avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.