Preview: Mulberry Panthers vs. Lakeland Christian Vikings
Mulberry is 1-6 against Lakeland Christian since February of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Mulberry Panthers will head out on the road to square off against the Lakeland Christian Vikings at 7:00 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Mulberry can now show off six landslide victories after their most recent game on Wednesday. They put the hurt on Hardee with a sharp 14-7 victory. Mulberry's win was all the more impressive since Hardee was averaging only three runs allowed on the season.
Jaden Sweeney tossed a big game, pitching 4.1 innings while giving up just one earned (and five unearned) runs off four hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Cooper Wright, who scored two runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-5. Another player making a difference was Hayden Wyatt, who scored a run while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, it was close, but on Tuesday Lakeland Christian sidestepped Mulberry for a 5-4 victory.
Carson Martin tossed a big game, not allowing a single hit, only one earned run while striking out six over five innings pitched.
At the plate, Dan Colon was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a double. The team also got some help courtesy of Zach Lester, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Mulberry pushed their record up to 8-4 with that win, which was their third straight on the road. They've been dominating during the matches in that stretch too, as they've won by an average of 14.3 runs. As for Lakeland Christian, their victory bumped their record up to 5-2.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Thursday as both teams have some strikeout artists on the roster. Mulberry has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.7 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Lakeland Christian struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.3 per game. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
