The Roma Gladiators will take on the Alexander Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
Rio Grande City hit Roma with a six-run third inning on Friday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Gladiators lost 12-2 to the Rattlers. The Gladiators haven't had much luck with the Rattlers recently, as the team has come up short the last six times they've met.
Meanwhile, Alexander owes their pitching crew a big pat on the back after their performance on Wednesday. They put the hurt on United with a sharp 7-0 victory. Considering the Bulldogs have won 12 games by more than six runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Ellie Gonzalez made a splash no matter where she played. On the mound, she didn't allow a single earned run over seven innings pitched. Gonzalez was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with one triple.
In other batting news, Alexander got a big performance out of Jacquelyn Tijerina, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI and one triple. That's the most RBI Tijerina has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Gianna Ortegon, who went 2-for-4 with one triple, one run, and one RBI.
Alexander kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in seven consecutive matchups.
Alexander pushed their record up to 20-13 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Roma, their loss dropped their record down to 17-8-1.
Roma beat Alexander 6-1 when the teams last played back in February of 2023. Will the Gladiators repeat their success, or do the Bulldogs have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
