FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 15, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Clearwater Threshers by a final score of 8-2 on Saturday night at Lee Health Sports Complex.
After an 86-minute weather delay, Fort Myers (61-50, 24-22) sent Ramiro Villanueva to the mound to make his team-leading 15th start of the season. Villanueva struck out the side in the first inning.
With two out in the bottom of the first, Luis Fragoza hit his 14th home run of the season at 104.3 mph off Clearwater (65-46, 25-20) opener Jacob Pruitt. Fragoza is now tied with Brandon Winokur (2024) for the second most home runs in a single-season in the Mussels’ era (since 2020).
The Threshers tied the game in the third inning on an RBI hit from Double-A rehabber Dante Nori. Villanueva allowed three hits in the inning but induced a flyout from Caden Bogenpohl with the bases loaded to evade further damage.
Matthew Dalquist entered the game in the fourth. Dalquist stranded the bases loaded in the fourth and two additional runners in scoring position in the fifth to keep the game tied. He worked three scoreless innings in total.
Charlie Scholvin worked a two-out walk in the bottom of the fifth, snapping a streak of 12 batters in a row retired by Thresher pitching.
In the top of the sixth inning, on a flyball out to left fielder Bryce Fowler, Clearwater’s runner at first, Nolan Beltran, tried tagging up from first to second. Fowler darted a one-hop throw to Bryan Acuna, who applied the tag for the out.
Fragoza recorded the second Mussel hit of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, then stole the team’s 250th base of the season. Fort Myers broke the single-season franchise record on Thursday, which was 236 stolen bases by the 2025 team.
Nick McAuliffe (2-2) took over in the seventh inning. Following a leadoff double, McAuliffe struck out the side to keep the game tied at one.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Mussels got runners at first and third with no one out on a double from Fowler and a walk from Acuna. Clearwater turned to reliever Brian Walters (7-2) , who recorded a strikeout and induced a ground ball double play to escape the jam.
In the top of the eighth, McAuliffe and Michael Hilker Jr. allowed seven combined runs as Clearwater went up 8-1. It is the second consecutive night that the Threshers put up seven runs in an inning.
Fort Myers got one run back in the bottom of the inning against Walters on a bases loaded walk from Fowler.
Melvin Rodriguez took over in the ninth and struck out two men in a 1-2-3 frame.
The Mussels went in order in the ninth, and dropped their second game in a row. They are now six games behind Tampa for first place in the FSL West 2nd Half standings.
UP NEXT: The series concludes on Sunday, August 16. Callan Fang (4.96) starts for the Mussels, opposite left-hander Zuher Yousuf (5.29). First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 11:45 a.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.