FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 16, 2017) - Zander Wiel provided a walk-off single in the eighth inning of a seven-inning game to complete a doubleheader sweep as the Fort Myers Miracle (35-18) defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers (24-25) 5-4 and 3-2 on Wednesday night. The wins mark eleven in a row
FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 16, 2017) - Zander Wiel provided a walk-off single in the eighth inning of a seven-inning game to complete a doubleheader sweep as the Fort Myers Miracle (35-18) defeated the Lakeland Flying Tigers (24-25) 5-4 and 3-2 on Wednesday night. The wins mark eleven in a row at home and eight straight overall. It was Fort Myers' 11th walk-off this year and 5th in the month of August.
GAME ONE: Lakeland grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the first against starter LHP Anthony McIver. Joey Pankake singled in Sergio Alcántara, and Arvicent Perez brought in Blaise Salter. Wiel, playing left field, cut down Pankake at home trying to score on the Perez single to keep it a 2-0 game.
In the bottom of the first, Fort Myers answered against RHP Kyle Dowdy (L, 8-10) with three of their own. Mitchell Kranson and Brent Rooker provided RBI-hits, and Rooker came in on a wild pitch to give the Miracle a 3-2 lead. They padded the lead with a Jermaine Palacios RBI-single in the second and Wiel sac fly in the third.
RHP Michael Kohn (W, 1-0) struck out the side in his 2017 FSL debut. In the top of the last inning, LHP Michael Theofanopoulos (Sv, 2) kept Fort Myers in the lead despite a two-run home run by Jake Robson.
GAME TWO: The Miracle went to work early in the first with a Sean Miller double. Kranson singled him home with a base hit to right for the early lead. Lakeland got their one run against starter RHP Randy LeBlanc (who struck out seven) in the second when Jose Azocar plated Cam Gibson.
The Miracle broke the 1-1 tie in the fifth with an unearned run. Jaylin Davis was at second base with two outs as the third baseman Pankake had a tough play in the hole. Davis got to third and saw that the first baseman Salter could not dig the throw out of the dirt, so he raced home to score the go-ahead run.
RHP Alex Muren (W, 2-2) came out for a save in the seventh inning and promptly retired the first two batters. Three straight Lakeland hits, capped by Will Allen's RBI-single, tied the game with two outs.
Despite not allowing a run in his first two innings, RHP Zac Houston (L, 0-1) surrendered a leadoff triple to Miller to begin the eighth. After a strikeout and two intentional walks, Wiel delivered a full count single to left to score Miller and end the game, 3-2.
RHP Sean Poppen faces RHP Sandy Baez in the series finale at 7:05 PM ET on Thursday night.
To stay up to date on upcoming promotional nights, follow the Miracle online at Miraclebaseball.com or through social media; Twitter: @MiracleBaseball, Instagram: fortmyersmiracle, Facebook: Fort Myers Miracle, Snapchat: ftmyersmiracle. To purchase tickets, visit MiracleBaseball.com/tickets. For further information or questions regarding the 2017 25th Anniversary Season, call the Miracle offices at (239) 768-4210.
