Baseball Game Preview: Santa Paula Cardinals vs. Hueneme Vikings

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Previous Games

03/24/25 - Home	9-0 W
03/29/24 - Home	4-0 W
03/27/24 - Away	1-0 W
04/07/23 - Away	6-2 W
04/05/23 - Home	6-2 W
+ 5 more games

Santa Paula has gone a perfect 10-0 against Hueneme recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. Santa Paula will face off against Hueneme at 3:30 p.m.

Santa Paula is probably headed into the game with a chip on their shoulder considering St. Bonaventure just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Saturday. They fell 7-4 to the Seraphs.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hueneme). They put the hurt on Malibu with a sharp 16-2 win on Friday. Considering the Vikings have won four matchups by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Hueneme got a great performance from George Rodriguez as he pitched five innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. Rodriguez has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in five consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Joseph Pena was a standout: he scored two runs while going 2-for-5. He is becoming a predictor of Hueneme's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 2-6 when he doesn't). Walter Nickerson was another key player, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 2-for-4.

Hueneme kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 16 hits. That's the most hits they've posted since back in February of 2024.

Hueneme is on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 6-6 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 10.14 hits in those games compared to only 3.8 in the others. Santa Paula's loss dropped their record down to 6-9.

Everything went Santa Paula's way against Hueneme in their previous meeting on Monday, as Santa Paula made off with a 9-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Santa Paula since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.