Baseball Game Preview: Ventura Cougars vs. Rio Mesa Spartans

The Ventura Cougars will square off against the Rio Mesa Spartans at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Ventura will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak.

On Saturday, Ventura earned a 5-2 win over Hart.

Josh Woodworth

Batters Struck Out

04/19/25 vs Hart	6
04/10/25 @ Oxnard	3
04/04/25 vs Pacifica	0
04/01/25 vs Pacifica	1
03/27/25 @ George Washington	3
+ 10 more games

Josh Woodworth was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off four hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in February of 2024. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-2 with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

In other batting news, Ventura let Elijah Burt and Carter Kimble run wild. Burt went a perfect 2-for-2 with one run and one RBI, while Kimble went 2-for-3 with two doubles and one run. Those two doubles gave Kimble a new career-high.

Meanwhile, Rio Mesa narrowly escaped with a victory as the team sidled past Santa Paula 6-4.

Jakob Zarate was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, two runs, and one double. He is becoming a predictor of Rio Mesa's success: when he posts at least three hits the team is 2-0-1 (and 3-16 when he doesn't). Isaac Hernandez was another key player, getting on base in all three of his plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.

Rio Mesa always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .533. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Santa Paula only posted an OBP of .207.

Ventura's win bumped their record up to 16-6-1. As for Rio Mesa, their victory bumped their record up to 5-16-1.

Ventura couldn't quite finish off Rio Mesa in their previous meeting back in April of 2024 and fell 5-3. Can the Cougars avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.