LAKELAND, Fla. (June 3, 2026) - An eighth inning rally pushed the Lakeland Flying Tigers past the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels in an 11-5 game, ending the team's six-game winning streak on Wednesday night at Joker Marchant Stadium.
In a 5-5 game in the eighth inning, Lakeland (26-26) put six runs on the board to end their five-game skid while snapping Fort Myers’ (30-23) winning streak.
Minnesota Twins No. 9 prospect Charlee Soto started on rehab from High-A, marking his first professional outing in 412 days. The 20-year-old struck out two batters and topped out at 99.9 mph while throwing seven of his 22 pitches at 98 mph or harder.
Lakeland scored three runs off of Soto, highlighted by a two-run triple from Edian Espinal to take an early lead.
Jason Reitz followed Soto and took over in the second. He retired all nine batters he faced, while picking up three strikeouts. Reitz needed just 32 pitches across three perfect innings.
Still trailing 3-0 in the fourth, Enrique Jimenez led off with an infield single. Lakeland’s defense would implode after that, committing three errors and allowing the Mussels to tie the game 3-3.
In the fifth, the Mussels took their first lead on four walks from Lakeland pitchers Cash Kuiper and Eliseo Mota. The bases loaded walk to Graham Brown made it 4-3.
Mussel pitching retired a dozen straight Tigers from the first to the fifth, falling one short of the 13 in-a-row retired at the end of yesterday's series opener. After a single to Anibal Salas, Kolten Smith (2-4) walked Tigers No. 7 prospect Jordan Yost. Their No. 20 prospect Jude Warwick followed with a two-run triple on a ground ball down the first base line to put Lakeland back in front 5-4.
With two outs in the seventh, JP Smith II connected on a deep fly back off the base off the wall in left. The Mussels’ first baseman took advantage of a big ricochet and dashed around the bases for an inside-the-park home run, tying the game 5-5. It was his second home run in as many days and his team leading seventh of the season. It was the first inside-the-park home run for the Mussels since Maddux Houghton on May 29, 2025 in Bradenton.
K. Smith settled in after the fifth and had a stretch of seven in a row retired with five strikeouts from the end of the fifth through the end of the seventh.
Lakeland then exploded for six runs in the eighth, taking a commanding 11-5 lead. A two-run double from Beau Ankeney put Lakeland back in front, and Hunter Dobbins capped the frame with a grand slam off of Jake Murray.
Fort Myers got the leadoff man aboard in each of the first five innings and six total times in the game, but the offense went 0-10 with RISP.
The series continues on Thursday, June 4. Fort Myers will send Justin Mitrovich (1.15) to the mound. Lakeland will start Malachi Witherspoon (7.11). First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:15 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.