Softball Game Preview: Lakewood Ranch Mustangs vs. Venice Indians

Lakewood Ranch has gone 7-1 against Venice recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Lakewood Ranch Mustangs will venture away from home to challenge the Venice Indians at 7:00 p.m. Lakewood Ranch is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.5 runs per game this season.

Lakewood Ranch made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Braden River, but still couldn't quite topple them. Everything went Lakewood Ranch's way against Braden River on Thursday as Lakewood Ranch made off with a 17-2 victory. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Mustangs considering their one-run performance the matchup before.

Erin Hogan

Runs (Career)

02/27/25 vs Braden River	2
02/20/25 vs Inspiration Academy	1
04/18/24 vs Charlotte	1
04/10/24 vs Lake Placid	1
04/04/24 vs Inspiration Academy	1

Erin Hogan was a standout: she scored two runs while getting on base in all three of her plate appearances. Those two runs gave her a new career-high. Sarah Haynie was another key player, scoring three runs while going 2-for-3.

Lakewood Ranch always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .759. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Venice suffered their closest loss since April 16, 2024 on Tuesday. They fell just short of Riverview Sarasota by a score of 4-2. Having soared to a lofty 16 runs in the game before, the Indians couldn't push the score so high this time.

Jayde Neptune was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: she tossed six innings while giving up just two earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up a single walks any time she's pitched this season.

On the hitting side, Venice saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Maddie Schilling, who scored a run while going 1-for-2.

Lakewood Ranch's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-3. As for Venice, their defeat was their first of the season and makes their record 2-1.

Lakewood Ranch skirted past Venice 4-3 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. Does Lakewood Ranch have another victory up their sleeve, or will Venice turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.