Venice hasn't had much luck against Lakewood Ranch recently, but that could start to change on Thursday. The Venice Indians will challenge the Lakewood Ranch Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Venice is coming into the game hot, having won their last five games.
Last Tuesday, Venice made easy work of Charlotte and carried off an 11-1 win. The result was nothing new for the Indians, who have now won six matches by seven runs or more so far this season.
Jayde Neptune tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks any time she's pitched this season.
Raionna Smith
| 03/11/25 vs Charlotte | 4 |
| 03/07/25 vs Lemon Bay | 3 |
| 04/19/24 vs Braden River | 3 |
| 03/06/25 @ Braden River | 2 |
| 02/20/25 @ Lemon Bay | 2 |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Raionna Smith, who scored four runs while going 3-for-4. The dominant performance gave her a new career-high in runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Riley Sullivan, who scored two runs while going 2-for-3.
Venice was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .500. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their batting average total in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Lakewood Ranch fell victim to Sarasota and their airtight pitching crew on Wednesday. They lost 10-0 to the Sailors. The game marked the first time this season in which the Mustangs were not able to get on the board.
This is the second loss in a row for Lakewood Ranch and nudges their season record down to 3-6. As for Venice, their victory was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-1.
Lakewood Ranch's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Venice has been making plenty of contact this season, having averaged 10.2 hits per game. It's a different story for Lakewood Ranch, though, as they've been averaging 8.8 hits. Given Venice's sizable advantage in that area, Lakewood Ranch will need to find a way to close that gap.
Venice came out on top in a nail-biter against Lakewood Ranch in their previous meeting two weeks ago, sneaking past 3-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for Venice since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
