The Benicia Panthers will square off against the El Cerrito Gauchos at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Benicia 3.1, El Cerrito 3) so any runs scored will be well earned.
El Cerrito will be up against a hot Benicia team: the squad just extended their winning streak to four. Everything went Benicia's way against De Anza on Friday as Benicia made off with a 12-1 victory. The Panthers' hitters stepped up their game for this one, as that was the most runs they've scored all season.
Dominic Louro looked comfortable as he pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits.
Nash Rubins
| 03/28/25 @ De Anza | 3 |
| 03/21/25 @ Vacaville | 2 |
| 03/18/25 @ Heritage | 2 |
| 03/07/25 vs San Ramon Valley | 2 |
| 05/09/24 @ Northgate | 2 |
At the plate, Nash Rubins and Jackson Habegger did most of the damage at the plate: Rubins scored a run and stole three bases while going 1-for-2, while Habegger scored two runs while going 1-for-1. Those three stolen bases gave Rubins a new career-high. Brice Brunson was another key player, scoring two runs while going 1-for-1.
Benicia always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .559. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for El Cerrito, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Saturday. They won by a run and slipped past Lowell 3-2.
AJ Bissell spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered two runs (both of which were unearned) on six hits.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Talio Ubalde, who scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-2. The team also got some help courtesy of Jackson Dalton-Recht, who went 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double.
El Cerrito pushed their record up to 8-4 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to hits: they averaged an imposing 8.83 hits in those games compared to only 4.83 in the others. As for Benicia, their victory bumped their record up to 7-1.
Both the two teams just can't seem to miss. Benicia has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 9.5 hits per game. However, it's not like El Cerrito struggles in that department as they've been averaging only 4.5 hits. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.
Benicia beat El Cerrito 5-0 when the teams last played back in March of 2017. Will Benicia repeat their success, or does El Cerrito has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
