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FSL Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

Mussels Cruise Past Hammerheads in Dominating 13-2 Victory

April 21, 2023 - Florida State League (FSL)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release


FORT MYERS, Fla. - Jose Olivares earned his first victory in a Fort Myers uniform Friday after tossing 5.2 innings of one-run ball with plenty of run support from Mussels hitters in a 13-2 victory over the Hammerheads.

The Mussels (7-6) provided early fireworks for over 2,500 fans at Hammond Stadium, scoring five runs in the fifth inning and six runs in the seventh. They saw key performances from Jorel Ortega and Danny De Andrade who combined for five hits and six runs batted in.

In a scoreless game in the top of the fourth, Hammerheads (7-6) designated hitter Ian Lewis launched a two-out triple to deep center, placing their first runner in scoring position of the game. Lewis scored on a wild pitch from Olivares one batter later to put Jupiter up 1-0.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, De Andrade and Andrew Cossetti drew walks to put runners at first and second with two outs. With Rubel Cespedes at the plate, De Andrade took off for third, drawing an errant throw from Jupiter catcher Cameron Barstad. As the ball rolled into left field, De Andrade scored to tie the game at 1-1.

With the same score in the bottom of the fifth, Dalton Shuffield walked, and Maddux Houghton singled to open up the inning. With runners at the corners, Dylan Neuse scalded a hard ground ball into left field to bring in Shuffield and give the Mussels a 2-1 advantage. One hitter later, Michael Helman was hit by a pitch to load the bases, forcing Jupiter to go to the bullpen. On Justin Fall's sixth pitch, Ortegascorched a double down the left-field line to score Houghton and Neuse and extend Fort Myers' lead to 4-1. With runners at second and third, De Andrade followed up with a line-drive single to left center, pushing the lead to 6-1.

In the bottom of the sixth, Neuse grounded a single to up the middle and stole second to set up a run-scoring spot for Helman. The Mussels' left fielder placed a soft chopper down the left field line to score Neuse, making it 7-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, De Andrade singled and Olivar walked to place runners at first and second with no outs. Cossetti continued his hot hitting as he lined a double down the left-field line to drive in the Mussels' eighth run of the evening. The knock gave him his 13th RBI of the series. Rubel Cespedes kept the line moving with a double to deep center to score two more and push the lead to 10-2.

After a single, ground out, and a strikeout, Helman came to the plate with runners at the corners. The Mussels' left fielder parachuted a soft line drive to center to make it 11-2. Ortega added to his big night as he pummeled a line drive to the left-center field wall to bring the Fort Myers lead to 13-2. The knock gave him a season-high four RBI.

Fort Myers notched a total of 15 hits with six doubles and five walks in the victory. They have now scored ten or more runs in back-to-back games, and three times this season. They saw multi-hit performances from five different players and every starter reached base at least once.

The 13-2 final score moves both teams' records to 7-6 on the year and evens the series at two games apiece. They will return to the diamond tomorrow for game five of the series as Zebby Matthews (2-0, 0.00) gets the nod for Fort Myers opposed by Jacob Miller (0-0, 0.00) for Jupiter. Coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.

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Florida State League Stories from April 21, 2023


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