The Rodriguez Mustangs will challenge the Whitney Wildcats at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Rodriguez comes in on 11 and Whitney on eight.
Rodriguez is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Tracy with a sharp 11-4 victory. Considering the Mustangs have won nine matchups by more than five runs this season, Wednesday's blowout was nothing new.
Nick Schikore tossed a big game, striking out six batters over five innings while giving up just one earned (and three unearned) runs off six hits (and only one walk). He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in ten consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Rodriguez got a massive performance out of Jack Jacobson, who went 2-for-3 with one triple, one stolen base, and one run. That triple marked the first that Jacobson has hit this season. Benjaman 'BJ' Smith was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.
Rodriguez 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 eight hits in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Whitney won against Granite Bay on Thursday with nine runs and they decided to stick to that run total again on Wednesday. The Wildcats' pitchers stepped up to hand Pitman a 9-0 shutout.
Zach Laduzinski looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, Noah Warner and Bryce Farris did most of the damage at the plate: Warner went 1-for-4 with one home run and three RBI, while Farris went a perfect 2-for-2 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run. That's the most RBI Warner has posted since back in March. Another player making a difference was Will McLemore, who went 2-for-3 with one run.
Rodriguez pushed their record up to 19-7 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.7 runs on average over those games. As for Whitney, their win bumped their record up to 17-11.
Rodriguez couldn't quite finish off Whitney when the teams last played back in May of 2019 and fell 4-2. Can the Mustangs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
