Spikerman Sets Up Threshers Success in 8-1 Win 

WP: Reese Dutton (1-0, 0.00)

LP: Charlee Soto (1-6, 5.04)

BOX SCORE

FORT MYERS, FL – After plating the first two runs in the third, the Clearwater Threshers (59-61, 16-38) never trailed in a dominant 8-1 win over the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (64-53, 33-19) on Wednesday night at Lee Health Sports Complex. The Threshers look to continue their momentum when they return for Thursday night’s matchup.

The game was scoreless until the top of the third inning, which began with two strikeouts before John Spikerman drew a walk on four pitches. Carson DeMartini followed with a walk and Carter Mathison was hit by a pitch from Mighty Mussels reliever Charlee Soto to load the bases. With a full count on him, Kehden Hettiger cleared the bases with a single. Only two runs scored, as Hettiger was thrown out trying to stretch his RBI single into a double, leaving the Threshers with a two-run lead.

Mathison started the fifth with a one-out walk and stole second base. With two outs in the inning, Kodey Shojinaga punched an 0-1 pitch into right field, allowing Mathison to score from second to make it 3-0 Threshers.

Dante Nori and Eduardo Tait led off the sixth with back-to-back walks on Mighty Mussels reliever Jack Noble, with Nori stealing second and advancing to third on a wild pitch during Tait’s at-bat. Spikerman hit a ground ball to second that was stopped on a diving effort. Fort Myers got the force out at second, but Nori scored from third to inflate the Threshers’ lead to four runs.

Three wild pitches in the bottom of the seventh allowed Fort Myers to score their first run, cutting the deficit to three. After two outs in the top of the eighth, the Threshers responded with a two-out double by Tait. Spikerman singled him home to stretch the Threshers lead back to four runs at 5-1.

Mathison led off the ninth with a walk and stole second off Mighty Mussels reliever Ben Ethridge. He tagged to third on a flyout and scored on a sacrifice fly from Brady Day, extending the Threshers lead to five runs. Shojinaga reached on an error by Kyle DeBarge and moved to third on a single by Starlyn Caba. Nori and Tait drove in two more runs on back-to-back singles to extend their lead to seven runs. An error allowed one baserunner to reach in the bottom of the ninth, but the Threshers quickly finished off the game with an 8-1 win.

Sam Highfill tossed 3.0 shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk with four strikeouts in a no-decision. Reese Dutton (1-0) allowed one hit and struck out two 9n 3.0 shutout innings to earn the win. A.J. Wilson allowed one run on one walk with two strikeouts in 1.0 hitless inning of work. Jonh Henriquez struck out two of the three batters he faced in 1.0 inning. Luis Avila finished the game with one strikeout in a scoreless and hitless ninth inning.

Caba set his season high with three hits...Dutton earned the victory in his first career outing...Hettiger has reached base in 12 straight games...Tait has hit safely and driven in runs in four straight games...Mathison has walked at least once in all four games since returning from the Injured List...Spikerman recorded his first multi-RBI game as a pro...The Threshers continue their final road trip of the 2024 regular season against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels on Thursday, August 29 ...First pitch will be at 7:05 PM EST...You can purchase Threshers tickets at ThreshersBaseball.com/tickets or by calling 727-467-4457…The Box Office at BayCare Ballpark is also open daily to purchase Threshers tickets…The hours are 10 AM-5 PM Monday through Friday and 10 AM-3 PM on Saturdays.