FORT MYERS – Mikey Perez drove in three runs and Pierson Ohl fanned a career-high seven batters as the Mighty Mussels claimed the series from the Tarpons Tarpons with a 7-1 win at Hammond Stadium Sunday.

After dropping the first game of the doubleheader 6-5 in eight innings, the Mussels’ (34-16) bats came out with a vengeance in the first inning of Game 2.

After Jake Rucker walked, Noah Miller pulled a ball into right to put two men on. The next batter was Perez, who cranked a two-run double off the wall in center. Keoni Cavaco followed with a single down the right field line to score Perez and extend the lead to 3-0. After Cavaco stole second, Kala’i Rosario smacked a double to right to make it 4-0. Rubel Cespedes then pulled a single into right to cap the inning at 5-0 Fort Myers.

Ohl struck out the side in all three of his innings but was pulled due to pitch count after three scoreless frames. Matt Mullenbach (2-0), Jackson Hicks and Juan Mendez combined to toss the final four innings.

With Sunday’s win, the Mussels’ magic number to clinch the First Half FSL West title is down to eight.

Fort Myers will travel to Daytona to play the Tortugas on Tuesday. All six games can be heard on the Tortugas Baseball Network.

Cavaco, Rosario lead Mussels to 8-2 victory

FORT MYERS – Keoni Cavaco and Kala’i Rosario powered the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels past the Tampa Tarpons 8-2 Saturday at Hammond Stadium.

Cavaco went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI while scoring twice. Rosario went 3-for-4 with a double and one run scored.

Cavaco now has three doubles, three homers and 13 RBI over his last 12 games, raising his slugging percentage from .300 to .404.

In a scoreless top of the first, Anthony Garcia beat the shift for a single through the infield. Then Marcos Cabrera smashed a triple off the right field wall, allowing Garcia to score to score and give the Tarpons (21-28) a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first inning, Jake Rucker singled to left field before stealing second base. Emmanuel Rodriguez crushed a line drive to deep center field, allowing Rucker to tag and advance to third. Tarpons’ pitcher Richard Fitts then threw a wild pitch to chase home Rucker and tie the game 1-1.

Fort Myers got the bats rolling in the bottom of the third inning. Luis Baez drew a leadoff walk and immediately swiped a bag, putting himself in scoring position. Rucker and Noah Miller followed with walks to load the bases for Rodriguez. Rodriguez golfed a deep drive to left field, allowing Baez to score on a sac fly to make the score 2-1. The next batter was Cavaco, who launched a three-run bomb to left-center field to extend Fort Myers’ lead to 5-1.

In the top of the fifth inning, Rosario smashed a double off the center field wall. Rubel Cespedes racked up his first hit as a Mussel, moving Rosario to third base. Rosario then scored on a wild pitch to make the score 6-1.

In the top of the seventh inning, Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk. He then stole second base. Cavaco continued his monster game with a single to left field, scoring Rodriguez from second to make the score 7-1. Rosario then hit a line drive to left field, scoring Cavaco to make the score 8-1.

Mussels’ pitching limited the Tarpons to just three hits over nine innings. Starting pitcher Travis Adams (4-1) went five innings, allowing one run on two hits while fanning a career-high eight.

Jaylen Nowlin and Hunter McMahon combined to toss four scoreless innings in relief. Nowlin fanned five in relief before McMahon punched out four.