Weekend wrap: Mussels split series with Marauders, head to Dunedin
Mussels storm back in ninth after lengthy rain delay
BRADENTON, Fla. – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels rallied in the top of the ninth inning to defeat the Bradenton Marauders by a final score of 9-2 Sunday from LECOM Park.
Trailing 2-1 in the ninth facing Noah Takacs (1-4), JP Smith II smoked a single to put the tying run on base. Jayson Bass pinch ran for him.
The next batter was Ramiro Dominguez, who singled to center but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. After Ryan Sprock walked, Irvin Nunez singled to left field to score Bass and tie the game.
Batting with the bases loaded, Bryan Acuna singled into left field to score Sprock to give the Mussels the lead. Harry Genth walked to drive in Nunez. Following a pitching change, Dameury Pena kept the line moving with an RBI single to score Quentin Young.
Two batters later, Bass punctuated the inning with a grand slam. Bass, who entered the game as a pinch runner earlier in the inning, drove his fourth blast of the season 397 feet to give the Mussels a 9-2 advantage.
The Mighty Mussels (22-17) sent 11 hitters to the plate, scoring eight runs in the top of the ninth to win the game and secure the series split. It is the seventh time this season that the Mussels have scored 6+ runs in an inning.
Quinn McDaniel continued to torch Bradenton (21-18) pitching on Sunday. With two hits, including an RBI double to open the scoring in the second, his average is now up to .538 in six games with the Mussels.
Fort Myers sent Justin Mitrovich to the mound to make his third start of the season. Over two innings, Mitrovich dazzled Marauder hitters, striking out five and facing the minimum. He left the game with a 1-0 lead.
Jonathan Stevens took over for Mitrovich in the third. Stevens allowed a leadoff single to Richard Ramirez, who scored on an RBI single from Johan De Los Santos. After three innings, the score was tied at one.
In the bottom of the fourth, the first two Bradenton hitters reached on singles. Stevens ended up leaving the bases loaded with a key strikeout of Christian Jauregui.
Merit Jones came in in the fifth after two frames from Stevens. Dylan Palmer smoked a first-pitch triple into the left-center field gap to leadoff the inning. Two pitches later, De Los Santos drove him in to give the Marauders their first lead of the day, 2-1.
Jones continued into the bottom of the sixth inning. He worked around a one-out single and walk to strand runners at the corners.
After rain delayed Sunday’s game for 1 hour and 46 minutes, play resumed in Bradenton.
Xavier Kolhosser (2-0) relieved Jones in the seventh after the delay. Kolhosser worked two hitless innings to send the game to the ninth inning tied at two.
Following the Mussels seven-run ninth inning, Kolhosser worked around two walks to seal the win.
The Mighty Mussels continue their road trip in Dunedin against the Blue Jays Tuesday, May 19. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Marauders best Mussels in back-and-forth matchup 12-9
BRADENTON, Fla. – Quinn McDaniel and Ramiro Dominguez both homered, but the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels could not overcome a late charge by the Bradenton Marauders, falling by a 12-9 score Saturday night at LECOM Park.
In total, the game saw a combined 29 hits with nine ties or lead changes on the scoreboard.
Fort Myers (21-17) starter Reed Moring fell an out shy of becoming the third player in the Mussels’ era (since 2020) to go 20 innings without allowing an earned run. Moring recorded one out, reaching 19.2 innings without allowing an earned run, before a sacrifice fly by Edgleen Perez ended his run at history.
Matthew Swain went 21 innings in 2022, and Osiris German went 20.2 innings without allowing an earned run in the 2021 season. Moring was the franchise’s sixth pitcher since 2020 to throw at least 15 innings without allowing an earned run.
Bradenton (21-17) ended up scoring a pair of runs off of Moring in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-1 lead.
McDaniel opened the scoring with a solo blast in the top of first. The ball left his bat at 105 mph and gave him four extra-base hits, and seven runs batted in through his first 17 at-bats since joining the team at the start of the series.
In the second, Ryan Sprock reached on an infield single. Two batters later, Jayson Bass ripped a line drive for a triple to center field at 106 mph, tying the game, 2-2.
Moring went three innings, allowing two runs on two hits while striking out two.
Bass added another RBI hit in the fourth to give Fort Myers its second lead 3-2. Bradenton answered and forced another tie in the bottom of the frame.
In the fifth, Damuery Pena and McDaniel connected on back-to-back singles to start the inning. A walk to Henry Kusiak loaded the bases for Dominguez, who then blasted his fourth home run of the season to put Fort Myers back in front 7-3.
The Mussels added a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly from JP Smith II to extend their lead 8-3.
The Marauders stormed back in the bottom of the sixth, scoring six runs to move back in front 9-8. Johan De Los Santos connected on a three-run home run to switch the lead for the fourth time.
In the eighth, Fort Myers forced the fourth tie of the game on a groundout from Henry Kusiak, making it 9-9.
Bradenton once again responded with three runs in the bottom of the eighth with a three-run frame to move ahead 12-9.
Mussels battle back and defeat marauders, 4-3
BRADENTON, Fla. – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels bounced back from an early deficit and defeated the Bradenton Marauders by a 4-3 score Friday night at LECOM Park.
The Marauder (20-17) offense got to Mussels’ (21-16) starter Matthew Dalquist in the first, tagging him for three runs on four hits while sending eight men to the plate. Mussels pitching would then put up eight straight zeros to secure the win and tie the series a two wins apiece.
Still trailing 3-0 in the fourth, Ryan Sprock shot an opposite field blast over the wall in right to get Fort Myers on the board 3-1. It was his second homer of the season and left the bat at 106.7 mph.
Dalquist exited after four innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out four. The 23-year-old has gone at least four innings in all six of his appearances this season.
In the fifth, Quinn McDaniel singled to right to lead off the frame. A base hit from Bryan Acuna moved him into scoring position. Two batters later, Damuery Pena connected on a bloop single to center to plate McDaniel and make it 3-2.
Brent Francisco (3-0) took over on the mound in the bottom of the frame and worked around a double to put a zero on the board.
In the top of the sixth, JP Smith II led off with a walk. A groundout advanced him to second and another pair of walks moved him to third. A wild pitch from Gavin Adams (0-2) tied the game 3-3. Harry Genth was then hit by a pitch to give the Mussels their first lead, 4-3. Genth has now been hit by a Florida State League leading eight pitches this season.
Fransico exited after three shutout innings. The righty allowed three hits and did not issue a walk.
Brian Zeldin (S3) took over in the eighth and worked around a leadoff single to hold onto the 4-3 lead. Zeldin then picked up two strikeouts in the ninth and stranded the tying run on first after an error allowed a runner to reach.