Mussels Top Flying Tigers 4-1 To Take 3-0 Series Lead

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 15, 2024) – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels extended their second half lead in the FSL West to 5.0 games over the Lakeland Flying Tigers with a 4-1 win on Thursday night at Hammond Stadium.

Fort Myers (59-47, 28-13) has now outscored Lakeland (66-42, 24-19) 16-8 over the first three games of the series. The Mussels have won five in a row and nine of 11 games in the month of August as the team continues its playoff push.

Jose Olivares started for Fort Myers and was excellent across four innings of shutout ball. The 21-year-old did not allow a hit and faced one batter over the minimum while picking up three strikeouts.

In a scoreless game in the bottom of the third, Byron Chourio and Kaelen Culpepper worked back-to-back walks to put two aboard with one out. Kyle DeBarge then singled to deep left to make it 1-0 Fort Myers. After Brandon Winokur reached on a fielder's choice, Billy Amick connected on an opposite field double to make it a 3-0 game.

Still leading by the score in the fifth, Samuel Perez entered from the Fort Myers’ bullpen. The lefty threw three scoreless innings of relief and struck out four while allowing a pair of singles.

Olivares and Perez took a no-hitter into the seventh before Andrew Jenkins singled for Lakeland.

In the bottom of the seventh, Chourio singled to right with one out. Later in the frame, Winokur shot an opposite field single to right to make it a 4-0 game.

Wilker Reyes worked the final two frames and struck out three. The lone Lakeland run of the contest scored with two outs in the ninth on an RBI single from Dom Johnson to bring the score to 4-1.

The Mussels return to action on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Prior to the game there will be an on field ceremony to honor Russ Bove as the 2024 Killebrew Root Beer Southwest Florida Scouts Hall of Fame. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.