Aguiar Triple Leads Mussels to Fifth Straight Victory Over Tarpons

*FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 13, 2023) – Carlos Aguiar’s *bases-clearing triple capped a four-run rally for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, who extended their winning streak to a season-high five games in a 5-2 win over the Tampa Tarpons Saturday at Hammond Stadium.

The Mussels’ (18-14) pitching staff was stout as four pitchers combined to allow just two runs while striking out 14. Fort Myers has now limited Tampa’s (11-21) offense to just three runs over their last 32 innings of work.

Early on, the Mussels struggled to get anything going against Tarpons starter Justin Lange (0-3), who struck out seven and allowed just two hits through his first four frames of work.

After Lange came out for the bottom of the fifth, Rubel Cespedes and Alec Sayre drew walks to place runners at first and second. After a strikeout of the next hitter,Lange’s pitch count was up to 93 pitches which resulted in a move to the bullpen.

After play resumed, Danny De Andrade and *Andrew Cossetti *followed with two more walks, which forced in Cespedes from third and gave the Mussels a 1-0 lead.

The next hitter was Aguiar, whohooked a flyball down the right-field line that cleared the bases to give Fort Myers a 4-0 advantage. He has now driven in 23 runs and leads the league with four triples.

With the same score in the bottom of the seventh, De Andrade and Cossetti walked to place runners on first and second with one out. Aguiar followed with a grounder to first that led to an errant throw from Tampa first basemen Jesus Rodriguez. De Andrade scored on the play to give the Mussels a five-run lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jesus Rodriguez reached on an error and Jared Serna blasted a two-out homer to left two break Tampa’s 16-inning scoreless streak and make it a 5-2 game.

Despite allowing just three hits, the Tarpons’ pitching staff walked 10 while their offense left 10 runners on base. The Mussels have now outscored them 37-13 in the series.

Fort Myers will look to secure the six-game sweep tomorrow with RHP Cory Lewis (3-1, 3.00) on the mound versus Tampa’s Baron Stuart (0-1, 11.88). Coverage begins at 11:45 a.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.