Strong Pitching, Late Offensive Surge Wins Threshers Third Straight 

WP: Casey Steward (2-1 0.84)

LP: Garrett Apker (2-1, 7.00)

BOX SCORE

LAKELAND, FL – Casey Steward helped the pitching staff of the Clearwater Threshers (17-8) take a shutout late into the ninth inning and beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers (16-10) 4-1 for their third consecutive win on Saturday night at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Threshers look to clinch their fifth series win of the season when they return to Lakeland on Sunday morning.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Lakeland reliever Garrett Apker walked Pierce Bennett and Aidan Miller to start off the inning. A wild pitch moved Bennett to third before TJayy Walton started the scoring with an RBI single that gave the Threshers a 1-0 lead.

Miller was hit by a pitch to start the seventh and stole second off Lakeland reliever Cam Brown. Walton drove him home with his second RBI of the game to double the Threshers lead. He scored on a Keaton Anthony double that made it 3-0. Bryson Ware added a double of his own with one out in the frame to bring the Threshers lead up to 4-0 in the seventh.

The Flying Tigers got a run across in the ninth, but the tying runner couldn’t get aboard as the Threshers closed out their third-straight win with a 4-1 victory.

Steward tossed 5.0 scoreless innings with three hits, one walk allowed, and three strikeouts. Brandon Beckel walked two and struck out one in 1.0 scoreless and hitless frame. Drew Garrett struck out four and allowed one walk and one hit in 2.0 shutout innings. Jonathan Petiit allowed one run on two hits with one walk in the final 1.0 inning.

Garrett tossed multiple shutout innings for the third time in his last four outings...He has not allowed a run in his last 8.2 innings on the hill...Steward tied a season-high with four strikeouts...Heredia has a hit in each of his last two games since coming off the injured list...Bennett stole multiple bases in one game for the first time in his professional career...Clearwater will end the series in sole possession of first place...They have yet to lose a series through the first five weeks of the season...The Threshers conclude their six-game series against the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Sunday, May 5...First pitch will be at 12:00 PM at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium...You can purchase tickets for the Threshers season 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.