Marauders Stunned in 7-5 Loss to Mighty Mussels
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Despite entering the ninth with a 5-0 lead, the Bradenton Marauders proceeded to allow seven runs, including a walk-off homer, and fell 7-5 to the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels on Sunday afternoon at Hammond Stadium.
The loss marked their fourth walk-off loss of the season, and their largest blown lead in the ninth inning. Despite the dramatic defeat, the Marauders still took four of the week’s six games versus the Mussels.
The Marauders opened scoring in the top of the first inning when Wyatt Sanford tripled to right center and later scored on an error to make it 1-0.
Still leading by one in the top of the fourth, Edward Florentino blasted a solo shot to center to extend the Bradenton advantage to 2-0.
The Marauders added on two more on the top of the fifth when Sanford lined an RBI double to right and later scored on a wild pitch that doubled the lead to 4-0.
In the top of the sixth, Florentino cranked a solo shot to right to push the lead to 5-0 and give him his second homer of the afternoon. The longball marked his third of the season with Bradenton, and ninth overall. In the process, he joined Will Taylor and Sanford as the only other Marauders with multi-homer performances this season. It also gave Florentino the first of his professional career.
Leading by five in the bottom of the ninth, Fort Myers loaded the bases on a walk, single and hit batter. With one out, they pushed across four runs on an error and two RBI singles that cut the Bradenton lead to 5-4.
After a groundout brought Bradenton within an out of the win, Caleb McNeely powered a three-run shot to left to win the game 7-5 for Fort Myers.
With the loss, Bradenton fell to 39-41 and 9-5 in the second half. Fort Myers moved to 33-46 and 6-9 in the second half. After an off day on Monday, the Marauders will begin a six-game series with the St. Lucie Mets at LECOM Park on Tuesday. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. with pre-game coverages beginning at 6:15 p.m. on the Marauders Broadcast Network.