Melbourne has won three straight games at home, while Eau Gallie has won three straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. Melbourne will welcome Eau Gallie at 6:00 p.m. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
While Melbourne's victory against Cocoa Beach wasn't quite the blowout it was the last time the pair played, they still came out on top. Melbourne came out on top in a nail-biter against Cocoa Beach on Wednesday, sneaking past 3-2. The Bulldogs haven't had any issues with the Minutemen recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Landon Barney tossed a big game, tossing 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off five hits. What's more, he posted three strikeouts, the most he's had since back in February.
Bryce Conner
| 03/26/25 vs Cocoa Beach | 3 |
| 03/18/25 vs Gateway Charter | 2 |
| 03/07/25 @ Merritt Island | 2 |
| 03/25/25 @ Heritage | 1 |
| 03/19/25 vs Treasure Coast | 1 |
At the plate, Bryce Conner and Bryson Ayala did most of the damage at the plate: Conner went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Ayala scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-3. Those three hits gave Conner a new career-high. Tony Burrows was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-3.
Meanwhile, Eau Gallie made easy work of Palm Bay on Thursday and carried off a 14-1 victory. The Commodores might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by six runs or more this season.
Alex Jacobs was incredible, firing off two home runs and five RBI while going 2-for-2. Another player making a difference was Kevin Dillon, who scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Eau Gallie always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .541. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Palm Bay only posted an OBP of .167.
Eau Gallie is on a roll lately: they've won nine of their last 11 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 13-5 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.3 runs over those games. Melbourne's victory bumped their record up to 11-5.
Melbourne came out on top in a nail-biter against Eau Gallie in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, sneaking past 4-3. Will Melbourne repeat their success, or does Eau Gallie has a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
