Baseball Game Preview: Lubbock Westerners vs. Estacado Matadors

The Lubbock Westerners will head out to square off against the Estacado Matadors at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Lubbock has nine straight wins, Estacado has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

While Lubbock didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-27), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They skirted past Liberty 6-4. That's two games straight that the Westerners have won by exactly two runs.

Ivan McGwier

Runs Batted In (Career)

03/07/25 vs Liberty	4
03/06/25 vs El Dorado	3
03/06/25 vs Shallowater	1
03/01/25 vs Marion	1
02/28/25 vs SA Roosevelt	1

Ivan McGwier was a major factor no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching seven innings while giving up four earned runs off 11 hits. McGwier was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with four RBI and one double. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in RBI.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Toby Flores, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-3. Another player making a difference was Isaac Trevino, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

Lubbock hit smart and finished the game with only one strikeout. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now struck out at most five strikeouts in nine consecutive matchups.

Meanwhile, Estacado came up short against Chapin on Friday, falling 12-1.

Lubbock pushed their record up to 9-4-1 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.7 runs over those games. As for Estacado, their loss dropped their record down to 4-9-1.

Everything went Lubbock's way against Estacado in their previous matchup back in March of 2021, as Lubbock made off with a 13-3 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Lubbock since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.