Softball Game Preview: Marquez Gladiators vs. Garfield Bulldogs

The Marquez Gladiators are taking a road trip to challenge the Garfield Bulldogs at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Marquez is coming into the match hot, having won their last 12 games.

Marquez's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. Everything went their way against Maywood CES as they made off with a 20-0 win. The result was nothing new for the Gladiators, who have now won 18 games by seven runs or more so far this season.

Meanwhile, Garfield had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They walked away with a 9-5 victory over the Jaguars.

Madilyn Mu?oz was excellent, going a perfect 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBI. Jaslene Ruiz also deserves some recognition as she got her first hit of the season.

They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Garfield kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least 11 hits in three consecutive matches.

Marquez's win was their tenth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 21-1. Those road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 16.9 runs over those games. As for Garfield, their record is now 14-7.

Marquez might still be hurting after the 20-4 loss they got from Garfield in their previous meeting back in March of 2020. Can the Gladiators avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.