Mussels, Marauders split first two games of series

Houghton drives in five in 10-5 win over Bradenton

FORT MYERS – Maddux Houghton’s three-run homer capped a seven-run first inning Wednesday, setting the tone in a 105 Mussels’ victory over the Bradenton Marauders at Hammond Stadium

The round tripper extended Houghton’s hitting streak to six games and marked the first time he left the yard since May 5 against Dunedin He tacked on two more RBI on a clutch two-out single in the ninth

In a scoreless game in the bottom of the first, Luke Keaschall walked before Ricardo Olivar and Danny De Andrade singled to load the bases Rubel Cespedes then scorched a two-run double off the base of the wall in right to give the Mussels (50-54, 16-22) a 2-0 lead With runners at second and third, Jay Harry rolled a grounder to second that scored De Andrade to extend the lead to three runs The next hitter was Gregory Duran, who ripped a liner into right for an RBI single that made it 4-0

After a walk to Alec Sayre placed runners at first and second, Houghton launched a three-run homer inside the foul pole in left to bring the Fort Myers’ lead to 7-0

With the same score in the top of the second, Juan Jerez singled while Mitch Jebb and Lonnie White Jr drew walks to load the bases for Bradenton (59-44, 24-14) Garret Forrester then punched a two-run single to right that made it 7-2 Charles McAdoo fol- lowed with an infield single to short that pushed across another run that made it 7-3

In the bottom of the second, Harry singled and advanced to third on a ground out and wild pitch After a walk to Sayre, an errant pickoff attempt to first allowed Harry to score to extend the lead to 8-3

Bradenton then scratched singular runs across in the third and fourth on groundouts to cut the deficit to 8-5

Both teams drew 10 walks and put several men on base in the later stage of the game, but were not able to cash in until Houghton’s two-run single in the ninth

Despite the walks, the Mussels’ bullpen was able to quiet the Marauders’ bats Relievers Juan Mendez, Jackson Hicks (51) , Ricardo Velez, and Zach Veen combined for 6 1 scoreless innings

Coverage of the series is on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network

Early Mussels lead evaporates in 13-9 loss to Bradenton

FORT MYERS – The Mighty Mussels dropped the series opener with the Bradenton Marauders 13-9 Tuesday after Charles McAdoo went 6-for-6 with two home runs and eight RBI at Hammond Stadium

Danny De Andrade broke out of a 4-for42 skid with three hits and four RBI Rafael Cruz finished the night with four hits and is now 12-for-27 ( 444) with six extra-base hits and eight RBI in his last seven games

With no score in the bottom of the first, Ricardo Olivar doubled to left with one out to set up a De Andrade two-run homer that put the Mussels (49-54, 15-22) up 2-0

The blast landed on the top of the berm in left and left the bat at 105 4 miles per hour for his eighth homer of the season

With the same score in the top of second, McAdoo launched a homer off the batter’s eye in straight away center to cut the Marauders’ (59-43, 24-13) deficit to 2-1

After Rodolfo Nolasco walked, Justin Miknis smoked a single to right for his first professional knock On the same play, Rodolfo Nolasco scored the game’s tying run on an errant throw from right fielder

Alec Sayre

Still tied in the bottom of the second, Sayre singled to right with one out The next hitter was Maddux Houghton, who lined a double to left that scored Sayre to give the Mussels a 3-2 lead On the play, Houghton advanced to third, and then scored on a passed ball later in the frame to push the lead to 4-2

Leading off the top of the third, Mitch Jebb singled and Forrester walked to place runners at first and second With one out in the frame, McAdoo cranked a three-run homer to deep left center that gave Bradenton its first lead of the night at 6-5

Still leading by one in the top of the fifth, Jebb led off with an infield single to short, and Garret Forrester walked to set up runners at first and second With one out in the frame McAdoo lined a single to left center to score Jebb and push the lead to two runs Later in the frame, the Mussels surrendered two consecutive walks with the bases loaded to force in two more to make it 8-4

In the top of the seventh and eighth innings, Bradenton pushed across three more runs on a two-run home run from Omar Alfonzo and an RBI single from McAdoo

In the bottom of the eighth, De Andrade singled and advanced to third on an error and grounder Later in the inning, Rubel Cespedes drove him in with an RBI ground out to second Later in the frame Nate Baez singled and scored on an RBI double off the wall in right from Jay Harry to make it 116

In the top of the ninth, McAdoo stepped up with the bases loaded and muscled a two-run single to left to cap Bradenton’s scoring at 13-6

The performance marked the first time a Florida State League hitter notched six hits and drove in eight this year Moreover, he set the Marauders franchise record for hits in a game

Despite tacking on three more in the ninth on a De Andrade two-run double and Cruz RBI single, the Mussels’ comeback fell short