Ruidoso is 1-6 against Lovington since March of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Ruidoso Warriors will head out on the road to challenge the Lovington Wildcats at 4:00 p.m. One thing working in Ruidoso's favor is that they have posted big run totals in their last five contests.
Last Friday, Ruidoso beat Silver 11-7.
Carson Straton made a splash no matter where he played. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over six innings while giving up four earned (and one unearned) runs off seven hits. Straton was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 3-for-4.
In other batting news, Joel Ortega and Gabriel Johnson did most of the damage at the plate: Ortega went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBI, and two runs, while Johnson scored three runs and stole three bases while going 4-for-5. Ortega has been hot recently, having posted at least one stolen base the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Trenton Hall, who scored three runs and stole a base while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, after only two runs in their last match, Lovington made sure to put some runs up on the board against Los Alamos on Saturday. Lovington's pitcher stepped up to hand Los Alamos a 10-0 shutout.
Ethan Gonzales spent all six innings played on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered just zero earned runs on two hits and racked up eight Ks.
At the plate, Mika Pando was incredible, going 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, three runs, and four RBI. Camon Ochoa was another key contributor, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Ruidoso's record now sits at 6-2. As for Lovington, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 3-9 record this season.
Lovington's pitching crew has a tough task ahead of them: Ruidoso hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .359. It's a different story for Lovington, though, as they've only averaged .243. Will they be able to contain Ruidoso's hitters?
Ruidoso might still be hurting after the 9-1 defeat they got from Lovington in their previous matchup back in March of 2022. Can Ruidoso avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
