Softball Game Preview: Lake Mary Rams vs. Melbourne Bulldogs

The Lake Mary Rams will head out on the road to challenge the Melbourne Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

Lake Mary is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 16 runs on Tuesday, they were much more limited against Seminole on Friday. They fell just short of the Seminoles by a score of 2-1. The loss continues a trend for the Rams in their meetings with the Seminoles: they've now lost three in a row.

Lake Mary saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Madi Bakker, who went 1-for-3 with one run and one double.

Meanwhile, Melbourne posted their closest victory since April 3rd on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-3 win over Rockledge. The Bulldogs haven't had any issues with the Raiders recently, as the game was their fifth consecutive victory against them.

Melbourne also got a great performance from Brooklynn Steidl as she tossed six innings while giving up three earned runs off ten hits. Steidl has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in four consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Layna Ayala was incredible, getting on base in all four of her plate appearances with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Another player making a difference was Hailey Cottrill, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.

Melbourne's win bumped their record up to 11-12. As for Lake Mary, their defeat dropped their record down to 5-17.

Lake Mary took their victory against Melbourne in their previous matchup last Wednesday by a conclusive 18-3 score. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Rams since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.