FSL Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

Pitching, Extra Inning Magic Leads Mussels to Doubleheader Sweep in Tampa

Published on June 22, 2023 under Florida State League (FSL)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release


TAMPA, Fla. - The Mighty Mussels tossed a shutout in Game 1 and erased a four-run deficit to win in extra innings in Game 2, sweeping a doubleheader against the Tampa Tarpons at Steinbrenner Field Thursday.

Fort Myers (34-32) starting pitcher Andrew Morris (2-1) spun five scoreless innings while allowing just two hits in Game 1. AJ Labas retired five of the six batters he faced to notch his fourth save of the season.

In a scoreless game in the top of the fourth, Danny De Andrade and Rubel Cespedes both singled to start the inning. Two batters later, Kris Bow uncorked a pair of wild pitches to allow the runners to score and put Fort Myers on top for good.

The Mighty Mussels fell behind 5-1 after two innings in Game 2, but starter Jose Olivares settled down to put up a pair of zeroes and keep Fort Myers in it. In the top of the fifth, Maddux Houghton singled with two outs before Ricardo Olivar bashed a two-run homer to left to cut the deficit in half and make it 5-3.

Anthony Hall drilled a solo home run to right in the bottom of the inning to extend Tampa's (31-35) lead to 6-3.

Still trailing by that margin in the top of the seventh, Manny Ramriez walked the first three Mussels he faced. De Andrade then drove in Dillon Tatum with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4. The next batter was Cespedes, who drilled an RBI double off the glove of Tayler Aguilar deep in the gap to make it 6-5. With two outs and runners at second and third, Omar Martinez committed a passed ball to allow Olivar to score and tie the game 6-6.

Fort Myers left-hander Gabriel Yanez (3-2) stranded the potential winning run in both the seventh and eighth, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings while fanning four.

In a tie game in the top of the ninth, De Andrade grounded out to push the automatic runner to third. The next batter was Kamron Willman, who was signed out of the Pioneer League and flew to Florida from Montana on Wednesday. Arriving right before first pitch, Willman came in for defense and then lined a single to center to win the game for Fort Myers in his first affiliated at bat.

The pair of wins means that Fort Myers finishes the first half of the season with a winning record. They'll begin the second half with a fresh record at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. RHP Ben Ethridge (0-4, 2.86) gets the start for the Mussels, opposed by RHP Sean Hermann (4-4, 6.45) of the Tarpons. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.

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Florida State League Stories from June 22, 2023


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