Tampa Closes First Half with 16-5 Loss to Fort Myers

TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Tarpons (35-31) wrapped up the first half of the season with a 16-5 loss to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (37-28) on Thursday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

JoJo Jackson continued his recent hot stretch at the plate, collecting his fifth multi-hit game in his last seven contests with a 2-for-4 performance. Over that seven-game stretch, Jackson has batted .500.

Fort Myers opened the scoring in the top of the third inning, plating three runs on a trio of RBI singles to take an early 3-0 lead.

The Tarpons answered right away in the bottom half of the inning, scoring twice to cut into the deficit. Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek reached on a fielder’s choice, bringing home a pair of runs to make it a 3-2 game.

From there, the Mighty Mussels pulled away. Fort Myers scored eight runs across the middle innings, building an 11-2 advantage through the top of the seventh without the benefit of a home run.

Tampa tacked on two in the bottom of the seventh. Austin Green drove in a run with a productive groundout before Luis Escudero followed with a ground-rule double to bring another run home.

Fort Myers continued to produce runs in the eighth off a pair of homers, extending the Mighty Mussels advantage to 16-4.

Martin-Grudzielanek blasted a high home run over the left field wall in the bottom half for his ninth homer of the season. The 16-5 score would hold as the final.

The Tarpons will look to get back on track tomorrow against the Mighty Mussels with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at GMS Field.