Baseball Game Preview: Itawamba Agricultural Indians vs. Saltillo Tigers

Itawamba Agricultural hasn't had much luck against Saltillo recently, but that could start to change on Saturday. Itawamba Agricultural will challenge Saltillo at 7:00 p.m.

Things were looking good for Itawamba Agricultural after they put the first points on the board on Friday, but unfortunately for them things went downhill from there. They fell just short of New Albany by a score of 10-8. While the Indians didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Bulldogs 4-0 in the first period.

Meanwhile, Saltillo came tearing into Friday's match with eight straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.6 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victors by a 10-1 margin over South Panola. Saltillo might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five contests by seven runs or more this season.

WILSON RODRIGUEZ spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on two hits and racked up 11 Ks. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in May of 2024.

On the hitting side, Saltillo got a big performance out of COOPER BURLESON, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 1-for-2. That's the most runs BURLESON has posted since back in February. The team also got some help courtesy of SMYTHE MCCOY, who scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-4.

Saltillo's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-4. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.4 runs on average over those games. As for Itawamba Agricultural, their loss dropped their record down to 14-6.

Itawamba Agricultural came out on top in a nail-biter against Saltillo in their previous matchup back in February, sneaking past 7-5. The rematch might be a little tougher for Itawamba Agricultural since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.