Timely hitting, more strong pitching helps Mighty Mussels beat Flying Tigers, 7-4
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers by a final score of 7-4 Tuesday night at the Lee Health Sports Complex in the third game of a six-game series. The win lowered the Mighty Mussels’ team ERA to 2.14, the best mark in all of Minor League Baseball.
The victory moved Fort Myers into a tie with Lakeland in the Florida State League Western Division standings, with both teams at 8-4 in the early goings of the season.
Minnesota Twins No. 11 prospect Riley Quick made his second start of the season for the Mussels, working three hitless innings while striking out five Flying Tigers on 48 pitches. In two professional starts, the 2025 1st round pick has struck out 10 batters without allowing a hit across his five innings.
The Mussels’ offense picked up right where it left off Wednesday night. With one out in the first inning, Dameury Pena singled and JP Smith II walked to put two aboard.
The next hitter was Yasser Mercedes, who blasted his first home run of the season over the berm in left field, making it 3-0 Fort Myers. Later in the inning, after reaching on a walk, Eduardo Beltre scored on a wild pitch by Lakeland’s Andrew Pogue to extend the lead to 4-0.
Pena’s opposite field single extended his hitting streak to eight games and his on-base streak to 10 games. He also leads the FSL in average at .412.
In total, Mussels batters saw 46 pitches in the first inning, and chased Tigers No. 11 prospect Malachi Witherspoon from the game after recording just two outs.
After Quick’s three innings, Fort Myers turned to Jonathan Stevens (2-0) with a four-run advantage. Stevens gave up a leadoff home run to Zach MacDonald, then ran into more trouble following a walk and two singles later in the frame. In total, Lakeland grabbed three runs in the top of the fourth to close the gap, making it 4-3.
Stevens worked a clean fifth inning but ran into more trouble in the sixth after a throwing error and a stolen base allowed Javier Osorio to get to third. Osorio would score on Nolan McCarthy’s groundout, tying the game 4-4.
The next hitter was Sergio Tapia, who smoked a double down the left field line, putting the go-ahead run into scoring position. Tapia was later thrown out at the plate by Beltre to end the inning, keeping the score tied.
Mercedes led off the next inning with a walk, then stole second on new Lakeland pitcher Yoan Valdez (0-1). He later scored after Ryan Sprock reached on a fielding error by Osorio, putting the Mussels back in front 5-4.
Jake Murray took over for Stevens and surrendered a double to the lone batter he faced before exiting with an injury. Michael Hilker Jr. (S1) was the next man up. He stranded the inherited runner in scoring position while striking out a pair of batters.
Ian Daugherty led off the seventh inning with his first home run over the season, a line drive shot onto the left field berm. Jorel Ortega followed up with a single to left and later scored on an infield single by Smith. That made the score 7-4 Mussels.
After working a clean eighth, Hilker Jr. was back out for the ninth inning. He worked around a one-out walk to secure the win for the Mussels. Hilker Jr. retired nine of the 10 batters he faced and has now thrown 6.2 scoreless innings this season.
The series continues today, April 17. Merit Jones (0-0, 3.52) starts for the Mussels, opposite Charlie Christensen (1-0, 0.00) who starts for Lakeland. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.