Wingrove Homers Twice as Mussels Split Doubleheader Against Flying Tigers

FORT MYERS, Fla. (June 14, 2024) – Rixon Wingrove connected on a pair of homers and drove in all four runs in game two as the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels split a doubleheader against the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Friday at Hammond Stadium.

Wingrove laced four hits with exit velocities north of 100 mph throughout the doubleheader. His pair of singles in game one were 108.1 and 109.4 off the bat. His homers in game two were 104.8 and 102.5 mph, both of which landed in the right field bleachers. He also had a 109.4 mph ground out, as all five of his batted balls had triple-digit exit velocities.

The Mussels (29-30) took a 3-0 lead in game two on Wingrove’s first-inning homer. After Lakeland (38-21) scored twice in the third, the Aussie responded with a solo blast leading off the fourth to make it a 4-2 game.

After Lakeland cut it to 4-3, Patrick Lee singled with one out against Xander Hamilton (4-7). He then stole second and third. Archer Brookman followed with a walk and Alvaro Gonzalez was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Nolan Santos entered and promptly issued a wild pitch, allowing Lee to score and tie the game 4-4. With two outs, Max Clark slashed a single to left to put the Tigers ahead 5-4. Another wild pitch extended the Lakeland lead 6-4.

Lakeland tacked on three more runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach. The Flying Tigers scored seven unanswered runs across the final three innings of game two, taking the contest by a 9-4 score. Lakeland saw eight of nine starters reach base safely in the win. Clark, the No. 3 pick in last year's draft, went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Patrick Lee and Archer Brookman also recorded multi-hit games for the Tigers.

In game one, Tanner Hall and Ricky Castro (2-0) dominated Lakeland for a six-hit shutout. Hall gave up three hits across a season high four innings of work and struck out two. Castro also yielded three hits and struck out two across three innings of relief.

With the game still scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, Wingrove led off with a single up the middle. Nick Lucky was called upon as a pinch runner for his debut in the Minnesota Twins’ organization. The next batter was Maddux Houghton, who was hit by a pitch to put men at first and second with no outs. Eiker Huizi (3-2) retired the next two Mussels before a walk to Walker Jenkins loaded the bases. Huizi then hit Brandon Winokur on the first pitch of his plate appearance, scoring Lucky and giving Fort Myers its fifth walk off of the season.

Lucky, who was signed on Tuesday, connected on his first affiliated hit with a double to right-center.

The Mussels return to action on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. Twins No. 7 prospect Charlee Soto (0-2, 7.31 ERA) takes the mound for Fort Myers opposite Hayden Minton (1-1, 4.85 ERA) of the Flying Tigers. Coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.