vs
| 03/25/24 - Away | 0-3 L |
| 04/26/23 - Away | 2-13 L |
| 03/27/23 - Home | 8-7 W |
| 03/31/22 - Home | 6-19 L |
| 03/08/22 - Away | 2-10 L |
| + 5 more games |
Safford and Tanque Verde are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2015, but likely not for long. The Bulldogs will be playing at home against the Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Safford sitting on three straight wins and Tanque Verde on eight.
Safford's pitching crew heads into the game hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past Rio Rico 1-0. That's two games straight that the Bulldogs have won by just one run.
Rio Rico's batters probably weren't too happy with Darren Maldonado, who pitched a no hitter (he gave up four walks).
At the plate, Safford saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Cole Goodman, who scored a run while going 2-for-3.
Meanwhile, Tanque Verde made easy work of Coolidge on Saturday and carried off a 17-3 win. Considering the Hawks have won ten contests by more than six runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Ryan Ruskay made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over six innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits (and only one walk). Those eight strikeouts gave him a new career-high. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one double.
In other batting news, Dylan Lewis was a standout: he fired off two home runs, four runs, and three RBI while going 3-for-4. Those four runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Landon Walker, who got on base in four of his five plate appearances with one home run, three runs, and three RBI.
Tanque Verde always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .568. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Coolidge only posted an OBP of .308.
Tanque Verde pushed their record up to 14-4-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.6 runs over those games. As for Safford, their victory bumped their record up to 10-7.
Safford couldn't quite get it done against Tanque Verde in their previous matchup back in March of 2024 as they fell 3-0. Will the Bulldogs have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
