Baseball Game Preview: Goddard Rockets vs. Portales Rams

Goddard has gone 8-2 against Portales recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The Rockets will look to defend their home field against the Rams at 5:00 p.m. Goddard is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.3 runs per game this season.

Goddard will roll into the contest after a wild two-game stretch: they only put up one run on Saturday, then bounced right back against Lovington on Saturday. The Rockets put the hurt on the Wildcats with a sharp 13-7 victory.

Carmelo Ortega tossed a big game, striking out six batters over 4.1 innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off seven hits (and not a single walk). He also tossed no walks, which is notable because Goddard is 2-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 6-10 otherwise.

Airell Aguilar

Hits (Career)

04/19/25 vs Lovington	3
04/17/25 @ Lovington	2
03/22/25 @ Artesia	2
03/21/25 vs Lovington	2
03/15/25 vs Gallup	2

At the plate, Airell Aguilar was incredible, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Those three hits gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Jose Porras, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and one double.

Goddard kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. They are a perfect 6-0 when they post 11 or more hits.

Meanwhile, Portales was not able to break out of their rough patch on Saturday as the team picked up their fifth straight defeat. They lost 13-1 to Artesia.

Goddard is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 8-11 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.0 runs over those games. As for Portales, their loss dropped their record down to 3-11.

Everything went Goddard's way against Portales in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, as Goddard made off with an 8-1 victory. Do the Rockets have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Rams turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.