Marauders Burned by Mussels in 10th-Inning Walkoff

FORT MYERS, Fla. — After a late throwing error erased a one-run Marauders lead, a tenth-inning Mighty Mussels threat culminated in a 6-5 walkoff loss for Bradenton on Sunday night at Hammond Stadium.

The loss ended a streak of five consecutive series wins for the Marauders (35-19), who have now split two of their nine total series, both of which have come against Fort Myers (31-23).

With the Marauders leading 5-4 entering the bottom of the 10th inning, Misael Urbina knocked a game-tying RBI-double to left-center off Marauders reliever Oliver Mateo (1-2). The following batter, Aaron Sabato, hit a slow dribbler to third baseman Dariel Lopez, who threw home to cut down Urbina attempting to score. But after an infield single and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, Willie Joe Garry Jr. drove home Sabato with the winning run on a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Mighty Mussels had rallied for three runs in the bottom of the third against Marauders starter Jared Jones for a 3-0 lead, but Bradenton rallied back instantly in the fourth. Jase Bowen homered to left—his team-leading eighth home run of the season—to cut the Marauders’ deficit to 3-1. Lopez followed with a double, and Maikol Escotto beat out an infield single. Eli Wilson plated Lopez with an RBI-groundout, and after Alexander Mojica struck out, Yoyner Fajardo blasted a go-ahead, two-run homer down the right-field line for a 4-3 Marauders lead. The homer was Fajardo’s first since June 21, 2018 for the DSL Pirates.

Piggyback starter Domingo Gonzalez cruised in relief of Jones, retiring the first seven batters he faced. But in the bottom of the seventh, with Ruben Santana on second base and two out, Escotto threw errantly past first base on a routine groundball by Jeferson Morales, allowing Santana to score the tying run.

Gonzalez went on to strike out nine across five innings of work, but the Marauders went just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in the game, including stranding one runner in scoring position in both the eighth and ninth innings with the score tied.

In the top of the 10th, extra-inning runner Hudson Head advanced to third on a wild pitch by Matthew Swain (4-1) and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to center by Lopez, but the Marauders failed to add to their lead, setting up the Mussels’ comeback in the home half.

Three Fort Myers relievers held the Marauders to just one unearned run—the 10th-inning tiebreaker runner—across the game’s final six innings.

Escotto went 2-for-5 at the plate, extending his on-base streak to 15 games.

The Marauders return home to LECOM Park on Tuesday to open a six-game series against the Clearwater Threshers, the Low-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.