Baseball Game Preview: Viera Hawks vs. Melbourne Bulldogs

The Viera Hawks will challenge the Melbourne Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.

Viera is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Monday. They put the hurt on Osceola with a sharp 8-2 victory.

Dominic Leoni was a standout: he went 2-for-4 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI. Aiden Cameron was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.

Meanwhile, Melbourne waltzed into their game on Monday with two straight wins... but they left with three. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Bears a 7-0 shutout. The Bulldogs not only won on Monday, but they posted their biggest win since March 25th.

Sean Gates tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only one hit while striking out six over six innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Nolan Keeley, who scored two runs and stole a base while going 2-for-3. That's the most hits he has posted since back in March of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Corbin Brown, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2.

Melbourne pushed their record up to 17-7 with the win, which was their third straight at home. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Viera, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 17-9 record this season.

Everything went Viera's way against Melbourne when the teams last played back in March, as Viera made off with a 10-2 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hawks since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.