The Southwest Eagles will venture away from home to challenge the Hialeah Gardens Gladiators at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Southwest will be strutting in after a victory while Hialeah Gardens will be coming in after a defeat.

Southwest’s pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They blew past Hialeah 15-0. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Eagles.

Tyler Villamor made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. Villamor was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with two RBI and one run. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high.

In other pitching news, Euclides Alvarez looked comfortable as he tossed one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit.

Dylan Duarte

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Back at the plate, Alejandro Porta and Dylan Duarte did most of the damage at the plate: Porta got on base in all three of his plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI, while Duarte went a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI. Those two hits gave Duarte a new career-high. Max Rico was another key player, earning three RBI, two runs, and two stolen bases.

Southwest always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .600. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Hialeah only posted an OBP of .357.

Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn’t the day for Hialeah Gardens’ offense. They lost 8-0 to Sunset on Tuesday. For those keeping track at home, that’s the biggest loss the Gladiators have suffered since February 28, 2025.

Hialeah Gardens saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Bryan Hernandez, who went 2-for-4 with one double. Alexander Lorden also deserves some recognition as he got his first hit of the season.

This is the second loss in a row for Hialeah Gardens and nudges their season record down to 2-2. As for Southwest, they now have a winning record of 2-1.

Thursday’s game might come down to which pitcher can control the ball better. Southwest has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .536. However, it’s not like Hialeah Gardens struggles in that department as they’ve averaged .441. With both teams so capable at the plate, fans should be ready for an impressive hitting performance.

Everything went Southwest’s way against Hialeah Gardens in their previous matchup back in February of 2025, as Southwest made off with a 9-2 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Eagles since the squad won’t have the home-field advantage this time around. We’ll see if the change in venue makes a difference.