The Citrus Hurricanes will square off against the Land O' Lakes Gators at 3:00 p.m. on Friday. Citrus is strutting in with some hitting muscle, as they've averaged 7.7 runs per game this season.
It may have taken eight innings to finish the job, but Citrus ultimately got the result they hoped for on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 win over South Sumter. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Citrus.
Kaylin Smith spent all eight innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned (and two unearned) runs on six hits and racked up nine Ks. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't pitched less than five innings in three consecutive pitching appearances.
On the hitting side, Citrus let Riley Tirrell and Baylie Goodwin loose on the outfield. Tirrell scored two runs and stole two bases while going 1-for-3, while Goodwin scored a run and stole two bases while going 2-for-4.
Meanwhile, Land O' Lakes can now show off three landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Tuesday. They blew past Zephyrhills 8-2. Eight seems to be a good number for Land O' Lakes as the squad scooped up a victory with the same number of runs in their previous game.
Taliah Murria looked comfortable as she struck out nine batters over four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits (and not a single walk). Miyah Davis relieved her and did a solid job, striking out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs or hits.
At the plate, Jaila Mitchell was excellent, scoring a run while going 2-for-4. The team also got some help courtesy of Makenna Bellaire, who went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Citrus is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a massive bump to their 6-4 record this season. As for Land O' Lakes, the win got them back to even at 5-5.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Friday. Citrus hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.6 home runs per game. However, it's not like Land O' Lakes struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.6 per game. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down. Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
