Mussels Finish Regular Season With Dominant 9-1 Win

FORT MYERS, Fla (September 11, 2022) – The Mighty Mussels wrapped up the regular season with a dominant 9-1 win over the St. Lucie Mets Sunday at Hammond Stadium, finishing the campaign with a 69-59 record.

Fort Myers (69-59, 28-36) led the FSL West from wire-to-wire in the overall standings, clinching the First Half title with a 41-23 mark. They'll begin their playoff run on Tuesday in Dunedin.

Nate Baez crushed two home runs in Sunday's win, getting the Mussels over the century mark with 101 dingers on the season. That total ranks third in the Florida State League. The Mussels also supplanted St. Lucie for the best OPS in the league on Sunday, finishing 2022 with both the best OPS (.720) and ERA (3.51) in the league.

In a scoreless game in the bottom of the first, Mussels leadoff hitter Misael Urbina walked. That was followed by a single from Tanner Schobel and a balk to put them on second and third. Next batter was Ben Ross, who doubled to right to plate two and made it 2-0. Kala’i Rosario then walked before Baez smacked his first homer of the day to make it 5-0.

In the bottom of the third, Urbina again led off the inning with a walk. Two batters later, Ross singled home another run to make it 6-0. Schobel came home to score off the bat of a Rosario single just two pitches later and extend the lead 7-0.

With two outs and a runner on in the bottom of the sixth, Baez came up and launched a first pitch home run on to the left field berm to cap the Mussels scoring at 9-0.

The Mussels' pitching was outstanding Sunday, with five pitchers combining on a five-hitter. Niklas Rimmel started and struck out four over three scoreless innings.

The Mighty Mussels kick off their postseason run on Tuesday against the Dunedin Blue Jays with coverage beginning at 6:10 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.