Big Third Inning Sparks Marauders in Series Clinching Victory
After a big fourth inning, the Bradenton Marauders secured the series win with a 5-3 victory over the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels at LECOM Park on Thursday night.
The Marauders now hold the FSL West's final playoff spot, moving 0.5 games ahead of the Mussels with the win.
The Mussels struck first in the top of the third when Damuery Pena drove in Caleb McNeely with an RBI groundout to short.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the same frame, the Marauders placed runners at second and third for Yordany De Los Santos who sent a sacrifice fly to center that evened the game.
The next hitter was Edward Florentino who blasted an RBI double to right to push Bradenton ahead 2-1. After an error placed runners at the corners, Ethan Lege sent a soft roller up the middle that led to another error, allowing Florentino to score and make it 3-1.
Jhonny Severino followed with an RBI double to left that extended the lead to 4-1.
Marauders starter Carlos Castillo was strong, tossing 5.1 innings while fanning five. He finished the night allowing two earned runs.
While the Mussels tacked on two in the seventh, the Marauders escaped the inning still leading 4-3.
Reliever Yulian Quintana was stellar out of the pen. The righty punched out five hitters through 2.2 shutout frames. Reliever Noah Takacs recorded the final three outs to earn his team-leading eighth save of the season.
With the win, Bradenton moved to 46-52 and 16-16 in the second half. Fort Myers fell to 43-54 and 16-17 in the second half. The Marauders return to LECOM Park tomorrow to begin a four-game series versus the Clearwater Threshers with a doubleheader tomorrow. First pitch for game one is slated for 5:00 p.m. with game two to follow shortly after. Coverage begins at 4:45 p.m. on MiLB.TV and the Marauders Broadcast Network.