Baseball Recap: Mulberry Comes Up Short

Mulberry suffered their closest loss since February 11th on Monday. They fell just short of the Lakeland Christian Vikings by a score of 6-4. The defeat continues a trend for the Panthers in their meetings with the Vikings: they've now lost eight in a row.

Mulberry got a good showing from Jaden Sweeney, who struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. That's the first time Sweeney hasn't allowed a single hit since back in May of 2024.

On the hitting side, Mulberry saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Gavin Stedman, who scored two runs while going 1-for-2. Griffin Cline was another, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3.

Mulberry's loss dropped their record down to 10-5. As for Lakeland Christian, they pushed their record up to 11-3 with the victory, which was their third straight on the road.

Coming up, a feisty cat fight will be fought as Mulberry Panthers challenge Inspiration Academy Lions at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday. As for Lakeland Christian, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Bartow at 7:00 p.m. on March 24th. The last three games Lakeland Christian has played have been within two runs, so don't be surprised if it's a close one.