FSL1 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

Gonsalves Wins Debut, Miracle Pick up 5-3 Victory

Published on June 8, 2015 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release


LAKELAND, Fla. (June 8, 2015) - The Fort Myers Miracle took a 5-3 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Monday evening at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Miracle starter Stephen Gonsalves made his first start in the Florida State League and earned the win after 5.1 innings.

In the top of the second, the Miracle created a two-out rally against Lakeland starter Locke St. John. Bryan Haar singled on a 1-2 pitch through the left side and Marcus Knecht laced a base hit into left. Haar and Knecht moved to up to second and third on a wild pitch from St. John (2-4). Chad Christensen then hit a sharp grounder up the middle on a 1-2 delivery to score two runs and give the Miracle a 2-0 lead.

The Flying Tigers answered off Gonsalves (1-0) in the second. Dominic Ficociello led off with a double that Miracle center fielder Zack Granite nearly caught in left center. On a 3-2 pitch, Ficociello sent a sinking drive to left center. Granite laid out and had the ball in his mitt before impact with the ground jarred it loose. Gonsalves then retired Ben Verlander on a fly out to left, but Francisco Martinez lined out and advanced Ficociello to third. Bobby Borchering drove in Ficociello with a soft line drive single into left, 2-1.

In the sixth, the Miracle drove St. John from the game with an Alex Swim RBI triple. Ryan Walker started the frame with a base hit through the right side. Swim then yanked a 3-2 offering into the right field corner and Walker raced around to score and give the Miracle a 3-1 advantage.

St. John exited the game and Adensen Verastegui came in from the Lakeland bullpen. Mitch Garver greeted Verastegui with a hard single into left to drive in Swim and extend the lead to three runs. Niko Goodrum stepped up and delivered a fourth consecutive hit, driving Garver to third. Haar then bounced out to second base, but Garver crossed home to push the Miracle lead to 5-1.

Lakeland returned fire in the bottom of the sixth against Gonsalves. After getting a ground out of David Gonzalez, Javier Betancourt reached on a walk. Ficociello then feasted on a 2-0 pitch for a two-run homer to left field cutting the advantage to 5-3.

Gonsalves left the game allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Alex Muren trotted in from the Miracle pen while inheriting runners on the corners. Muren fanned Borchering and got Grayson Grainer to pop up to second to end the frame. Muren tossed a perfect seventh before Todd Van Steensel entered in the eighth.

Van Steensel struck out four in two scoreless frames to earn his seventh save of the season.

The Miracle (27-30) have won two in a row and return to Joker Marchant Stadium for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch against the Flying Tigers (27-29). Fans can listen to the broadcast with the "Voice of the Miracle" Brice Zimmerman at www.miraclebaseball.com. The MiracleBaseball.com pregame show begins at 6:05 p.m.

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Florida State League Stories from June 8, 2015


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