Baseball Game Preview: Lakeland Dreadnaughts vs. Bartow Yellow Jackets

Lakeland is 8-2 against Bartow since April of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Wednesday. The Dreadnaughts will square off against the Yellow Jackets at 4:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Lakeland has three straight victories, Bartow has eight straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Lakeland proved they can win big on Friday (they won by 22) and on Monday they proved they can win the close ones too. They narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past Winter Haven 7-5.

CHASE FREDENBURG

Batters Struck Out (Career)

04/07/25 vs Winter Haven	8
03/25/25 @ Winter Haven	7
02/20/25 vs Lake Region	6
02/25/25 vs Berkeley Prep	3
04/03/25 vs IMG Academy Gray	2

Lakeland got a great performance from CHASE FREDENBURG as he struck out eight batters over 6.1 innings while giving up three earned (and one unearned) runs off five hits. Those eight strikeouts gave FREDENBURG a new career-high.

At the plate, Lakeland let CLAY EICHLIN and CARTER MASLYN run wild. EICHLIN scored three runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while MASLYN scored two runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4. EICHLIN is becoming a predictor of Lakeland's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 9-11 when he doesn't).

Meanwhile, Bartow came up short against Winter Haven on Tuesday and fell 4-1.

Bartow saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kelan Elliott, who went 2-for-4 with one double and one RBI. That double was Elliott's first of the season.

Bartow's loss dropped their record down to 5-16. As for Lakeland, they now have a winning record of 12-11.

Bartow's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Lakeland has hit smart this season, having averaged an OBP of .452. It's a different story for Bartow, though, as they've only averaged .305. Will they be able to contain Lakeland's hitters?

Lakeland took their victory against Bartow in their previous matchup back in March by a conclusive 15-3 score. Will the Dreadnaughts repeat their success, or do the Yellow Jackets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.