Aces host Aviators in six-game Silver State showdown, riding hot bats

Reno’s offense had already made a statement, but the six-game set against the Las Vegas Aviators was the first real test of whether that start meant anything. The Aces entered the Silver State matchup riding a 4-2 run against Salt Lake, with a lineup that had been piling up crooked innings and a home crowd at Greater Nevada Field getting used to hearing the ball jump off the bat.

That mattered because this was not just another division series. It was the first meeting of 2026 between the Reno Aces and the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate, and the timing was telling: the Aviators arrived as the second half of Reno’s longest homestand of the season began, with six games left to close a 12-game stretch. Reno’s home calendar is built around six-game series and Monday off-days, so this one came with the feel of a checkpoint, not a detour.

LuJames Groover had become the obvious headliner. The 23-year-old right-handed hitter and third baseman was named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week after slashing .476/.571/.762 for a 1.333 OPS against Salt Lake, and he entered the series with a .375 average, .435 on-base percentage and .917 OPS. Anderdson Rojas was giving Reno another hot hand at the top of the order, carrying a .429 average into the matchup after opening 2026 with 12 hits in 28 at-bats. Those two numbers were the kind that travel fast, but they also had to survive a rival that knew exactly where to look.

Reno had owned this matchup for years. The Aces had won each of the last five season series against Las Vegas dating back to the start of 2021 and had gone 74-47 against the Aviators in that span. They had also piled up 1,072.1 innings and 1,039 strikeouts against Las Vegas since 2021, both third-most against any Reno opponent in that stretch. Even with a 5.56 ERA against the Aviators ranking fourth among the nine clubs they had faced, the volume told the bigger story: these games had rarely been easy, and they had usually been loud.

That was why the recent outbursts against Salt Lake carried weight. Reno beat the Bees 9-4 on April 8 behind a six-run fourth inning capped by Kristian Robinson’s grand slam, then followed with a 10-5 win on April 10 by scoring nine runs over the final four innings. The Aces had the kind of offense that could bury a team in a hurry. The question against Las Vegas was simpler and tougher: could they keep doing it when the opponent knew the script?