Aztec is 2-8 against Gallup since April of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Aztec Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the Gallup Bengals at 6:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Gallup is hoping to do on Thursday what Kirtland Central couldn't on Tuesday: put an end to Aztec's winning streak, which now stands at five games. Aztec's pitcher stepped up to hand Kirtland Central a 17-0 shutout. For those curious, yes, that was the biggest victory Aztec has managed all season.
Aztec got a massive performance out of Reagan Bradshaw, who went 2-for-4 with a home run, five RBI, and three runs. Cami Lucio was another key contributor, going 3-for-4 with four RBI, two doubles, and a run.
Meanwhile, Gallup had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 10 runs), and they went ahead and made it six on Tuesday. Everything went their way against the Chieftains as they made off with a 17-0 win.
Madison Martinez was a major factor while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). Martinez was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, Jazmine Marrufo was a standout: she went 2-for-4 with two runs, a triple, and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Brenna Becenti, who scored three runs while going 3-for-4.
Aztec has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight games, which provided a massive bump to their 13-8 record this season. As for Gallup, they pushed their record up to 14-5 with that victory, which was their tenth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Aztec hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.8 home runs per game. However, it's not like Gallup struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.5. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Aztec might still be hurting after the 16-1 loss they got from Gallup when the teams last played back in April of 2023. Can Aztec avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
