Mussels Shut Out by Lakeland 4-0, Fall Out of First Place

LAKELAND, Fla. (September 4, 2024) – The Lakeland Flying Tigers tossed a four-hit shutout Wednesday, taking over first place in the FSL West with a 4-0 win over the Mighty Mussels at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Zack Lee (3 IP), Duque Hebbert (4 IP) and Garrett Apker (2 IP) combined to finished just three batters over the minimum, striking out seven without walking a single batter.

With the win, Lakeland (78-48, 36-25) takes over first place in the FSL West with four games to play. Fort Myers (64-57, 33-23) must win three of the final four contests to qualify for the playoffs.

Flying Tigers’ first baseman Josue Briceno drove in three of the four runs Wednesdsay. After Jack Penney had doubled in the bottom of the first, Briceno grounded a single into left to make it 1-0.

After Charlee Soto (1-7) retired seven batters in a row, Briceno walked to start the fourth. After he advanced to second on a wild pitch, Briceno slid under two different tags at third and home to make it 2-0.

Still leading by that margin in the bottom of the fifth, Franyerber Montilla stroked a double to the gap and stole third base. David Smith then walked and stole second. Soto responded by retiring Zach MacDonald before being pulled from the game. Jack Noble entered and struck out Penney for the second out. After running a full count to Briceno, he hung a cutter and Briceno drilled a two-run single to center to cap the scoring at 4-0.

Fort Myers will turn to RHP Anthony Narvaez (0-0, 9.00) on Thursday. RHP Josh Randall (0-0, 0.00) is scheduled to start for Lakeland. Coverage begins at 6:15 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.