On Friday, Artesia faced Lovington in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Artesia Bulldogs fell just short of the Lovington Wildcats by a score of 3-2. Artesia has not had much luck with Lovington recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
Madison Martinez was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: she pitched 6.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off four hits.
On the hitting side, Perseis Aguilar made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and went 3-for-3 with a stolen base, a double, and an RBI. Another player making a difference was Makayla Lujan, who went 1-for-3 with a home run.
On Lovington's side, Daphne Utajara spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered only one earned (and one unearned) run on six hits. Utajara has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, Lovington saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Lailah Hernandez, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Artesia's defeat dropped their record down to 12-7. As for Lovington, they pushed their record up to 17-3 with that win, which was their 12th straight on the road dating back to last season.
Artesia will face off against Portales at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Artesia is facing Portales at the right time seeing as Portales is stuck on a three-game losing streak. As for Lovington, they are on the road again on Tuesday to play Goddard at 5:00 p.m. Lovington is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.4 runs per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
