Weekend wrap: Mussels drop finale but win series with Flying Tigers
Sprock’s big day not enough in series finale loss to Flying Tigers
LAKELAND – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels dropped the series finale to the Lakeland Flying Tigers Sunday by a final score of 5-3 from Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Despite Ryan Sprock’s big day, which included two hits and two RBI, the Mussels (33-24) fell in the series finale to Lakeland (27-29). Sprock hit .300 in five games this series, reaching base nine times over that stretch.
Fort Myers sent Ramiro Villanueva to the mound to make his seventh start of the season. Villanueva faced the minimum in the first, aided by a groundball double play with one on and one out to hold Lakeland scoreless.
Sprock tripled to lead off the second inning, however the Mussels could not capitalize and left him stranded at third base.
In the bottom of the second, two walks and a double steal put two runners in scoring position with no one out for Lakeland. Following a pair of strikeouts from Villanueva, he surrendered a two-run single to Javier Osorio to make it 2-0.
Villanueva exited after three innings. He allowed two runs on one hit, but walked three over 53 pitches. He gave way to Mitch Mueller, who struck out one in a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth inning.
Lakeland starter Charlie Christensen was dominant Sunday. Sprock’s triple was the only base runner he allowed, striking out eight over four strong frames.
Kolten Smith relieved Mueller in the fifth, working a clean inning as well.
Facing Joe Ruzicka in the top of the sixth, Fort Myers loaded up the bases with one out. Sprock’s sacrifice fly to right field put the Mighty Mussels on the board, 2-1.
Smith continued on into the sixth inning. With two outs, Beau Ankeney blasted a solo home run to extend the lead back to two runs. Ankeney’s fifth homer of the season snapped a streak of 12 consecutive hitters retired by Mussels’ pitching. It was the fifth streak of at least 10 consecutive batters retired by the staff in the series.
Brent Francisco (5-1) took over in the seventh inning, facing the minimum by striking out one and inducing a double play.
Dameury Pena led off the top of the eighth inning with a hard-hit single into left field. With two outs and Pena still at second, Sprock took a two-strike slider and flicked it into left center field to score the run.
Following a steal of second by Sprock, Graham Brown poked an RBI single behind the outstretched glove of Lakeland shortstop Jude Warwick. Fort Myers tied the game on three hits and three stolen bases in the frame.
The Flying Tigers responded in the bottom of the eighth. Three straight hits off of Francisco gave Lakeland the lead right back. Two runs ended up scoring in the inning as the Flying Tigers reestablished a two-run lead at 5-3.
The Mussels got the tying run to the plate in the ninth against Jatnk Diaz (1-1), but could not complete another comeback as they dropped the series finale.
Fort Myers returns home to begin a series with the Dunedin Blue Jays on Tuesday, June 9. It is the final home series of the first half of the regular season. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.
Mighty Mussels secure second consecutive series win, blank Flying Tigers 5-0 Saturday
LAKELAND, Fla. – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels tossed their second shutout win of the week to secure their second consecutive series win, defeating the Lakeland Flying Tigers 5-0 Saturday night at Joker Marchant Stadium.
The shutout win was the eighth of the season for the Mighty Mussels (33-23), good for a tie for second in all of affiliated baseball (MLB and MiLB) and trailing only the Arkansas Travelers (SEA, Double-A) who have nine such victories.
The Mussels have now won four of their first 10 series of the year, with three splits and three losses through their first 56 games.
The team has a +68 run differential on the season, good for second in all of Single-A. The club’s 3.65 ERA paces all full-season MiLB affiliates.
Fort Myers has outscored Lakeland (26-29) 40-20 over the first five games of the series and is 10 games over .500 for the first time since Aug. 31, 2024.
Leading off the first, Dameury Pena connected on a double to left-center field. He would later score on a ground out off the bat of Ramiro Dominguez to make it 1-0.
Pena finished the night with two hits, giving him 62 on the season and adding to his Florida State League lead. It was his 21st multi-hit game of the season in 48 games played.
In the third, Jayson Bass connected on a one-out single. Graham Brown followed with a towering homer to left, his first as an affiliated professional, which made it 3-0. The blast left his bat at 105 mph.
Mussels’ starter Merit Jones was solid in his second outing of the week. The righty spun four shutout innings and struck out six batters while throwing 41 of his 64 pitches for strikes. Jones struck out the final four hitters he faced.
On the week, Jones threw nine innings in his pair of starts and allowed two runs while striking out 14. For the season, he now leads the FSL with 52.1 IP and paces qualified pitchers with a 3.10 ERA.
In the sixth, Quentin Young drew a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Brown pulled his second hit of the night to put two aboard. With two outs, Irvin Nunez dropped a double into shallow center, out of the reach of a diving Nick Dumesnil, to bring both men home and make it 5-0.
Left-hander Jake Murray covered the fifth and sixth innings. He retired six of the seven he faced and threw 18 of his 22 pitches for strikes.
Eric Hammond recorded eight outs across the seventh, eighth, and ninth before Michael Hilker Jr. got the final out of the game.
The 2:20 minute time of game marked the shortest nine inning contest of the season.
Fragoza, Jimenez power Mussels to 9-7 win in extras on Friday
LAKELAND, Fla. – Luis Fragoza recorded a pair of extra-base-hits and Enrique Jimenez clubbed a three-run home run as the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers 9-7 in 10 innings Friday night at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Trailing 6-2 with two outs in the seventh, Damuery Pena doubled to left-center. Ramiro Dominguez followed with an opposite field single. Enrique Jimenez then pushed a fly ball over the wall in left, making it 6-5 on an opposite field three-run home run off of Lakeland (26-28) reliever Luke Hoskins.
The next inning, Luis Fragoza connected on a two-run homer to put Fort Myers (32-23) ahead 7-6. Lakeland then tied the game in the bottom of the frame on a wild pitch from Jonathan Stevens.
Neither team scored in the ninth. In the 10th, Henry Kusiak blasted a double off the base of the wall in left to put Fort Myers back in front 8-7. Fragoza followed with a double to extend the lead 9-7. The Mussels’ right fielder finished the night with a season high four RBI.
Mitch Mueller (S1) retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame, moving Fort Myers to 5-2 in extra-inning games.
Mussels’ starter Reed Moring retired the first seven batters he faced on just 17 pitches, throwing 13 of them for strikes to begin his outing. With one out in the third, Hunter Dobbins doubled to left-center. During the next at-bat, a wild pitch and throwing error by Jimenez allowed Dobbins to score, making it 1-0.
Leading off the fourth, JP Smith cranked a double to straight-away center. Ryan Sprock followed with a single through the left side of the infield to put men on the corners. Kusiak then drew a walk to load the bases. Graham Brown opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right. Fragoza followed with an RBI ground out to give the Mussels a 2-1 lead.
Through four innings, Moring faced just one batter above the minimum. Dobbins struck again in the fifth. With two outs and a man at first, the Lakeland catcher blasted a two-run home run onto the berm in left to make it 3-2.
Moring exited after five innings. The righty allowed three runs on three hits and struck out four.
Dylan Questad entered in the sixth and allowed three straight hits to begin his outing. Edian Espinal made it 4-2 with his ground ball base hit. Questad struck out Zach MacDonald to end his outing, facing just four hitters. Facing Brent Francisco, Carson Rucker delivered a two-run single to center to make it 6-2 Lakeland.
The Mussels then outscored the Flying Tigers 7-1 over the final four innings.
Francisco, Stevens, Mike McKenna (3-2) and Mueller did not allow a hit to the final 16 batters of the game.