The Mulberry Panthers are taking a road trip to challenge the Lakeland Dreadnaughts at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Mulberry is coming into the match hot, having won their last five games.
Mulberry will bounce into Thursday's game after beating Winter Haven, who they had gone 1-8 against in their nine prior meetings. Mulberry came out on top against Winter Haven by a score of 10-7 on Tuesday. That's two games straight that the Panthers have won by exactly three runs.
Laura Robinson made a big impact no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowed only one hit over four innings pitched. Robinson was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 1-for-3. The dominant performance also gave her a new career-high in RBI (two).
In other pitching news, Haylie Hightower looked comfortable as she pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than one walk any time she's pitched this season.
Back at the plate, Jaylyn Oschmann was a standout: she got on base in three of her five plate appearances with two stolen bases, two runs, and one triple. That triple was her first of the season. Lorianys Castanon Cruz was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-4.
Mulberry was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .375. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Winter Haven only posted a batting average of .200.
Lakeland never got on the board in their matchup on Monday, but that sure wasn't the case in their game against Ridge Community on Wednesday. They put the hurt on the Bolts with a sharp 21-0 victory. The Dreadnaughts not only won on Wednesday, but they posted their biggest win since April 23, 2024.
Lakeland's record now sits at 2-6. As for Mulberry, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
Everything went Mulberry's way against Lakeland when the teams last played back in April of 2024, as Mulberry made off with a 12-3 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Mulberry since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
