TAMPA, Fla. (June 20, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Tampa Tarpons by a final score of 13-11 on Saturday night at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Ryan Sprock’s fourth inning 107.1 mph single marked 14 consecutive games with a hit. Sprock’s knock lifted him past current Minnesota Twins No. 1 prospect Walker Jenkins for sole possession of the second-longest hitting streak in the Mussels’ era (since 2020). This also marks a season-high for any player in the Florida State League. Sprock is hitting .431 with a 1.183 OPS during his streak. He now owns the third best average in the FSL at .309.
Fort Myers (38-29, 1-1) sent Jason Reitz to the mound to make his fourth start of the season. Reitz worked around a one-out single to keep the score tied through one inning. In the bottom of the second inning, Logan Maxwell led off with his fourth home run of the season. It was the first home run Reitz has allowed in his professional career.
The Mussels struck back in the third inning. Luis Fragoza led off the frame with a walk, then later came home to score on a wild pitch by Tarpons (36-32, 1-1) starter Tyler Boudreau to tie the game at one.
In the bottom of the third, for the second consecutive inning, Tampa led off with a solo home run. This time, it was Luis Escudero taking Reitz deep on the tenth home run of the series by the Tarpons.
The Mighty Mussels continued to respond to Tampa’s offensive pressure in the top of the fourth inning. After Sprock’s streak-extending single, with two on and one out, JP Smith II roped a hard-hit single into left field to tie the game at two. Jayson Bass followed up with his ninth double of the season to give Fort Myers the lead 3-2.
The next batter was Twins No. 14 prospect Quentin Young, who blistered his eighth home run of the season to extend the lead to 5-2 Fort Myers. Young’s second home run of the series left the bat at 109.5 mph.
In the bottom of the fifth, facing reliever Merit Jones, Escudero homered again to lead off the inning, making the score 5-3, Fort Myers. Jones later stranded a runner at third to keep the lead at two runs.
Jones gave up three consecutive hits to lead off the sixth inning, including a game-tying, two-run double by David McCann. Four more runs came in against Jones, who was relieved by Jonathan Stevens (4-1) later in the inning, and the Mussels went down 9-5.
Fort Myers immediately rallied in the top of the seventh inning against Tampa’s Jose M. Rodriguez and Pedro Rodriguez (1-2). Dameury Pena drove in a run with a single, then Sprock tore into a double to left-center field to score two runs. Two batters later, Smith tied the game with an RBI single to plate Sprock. Three batters later, Fragoza gave the Mussels the lead with a two-run single. A total of seven runs scored in the inning to put the Mighty Mussels on top 12-9.
The Tarpons responded with two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning against Stevens to make it a one-run game. Stevens was relieved by Nick McAuliffe with the bases loaded and two outs. In just his second outing as a Mussel, McAuliffe retired Maxwell to preserve the lead, aided by a superb stop from second baseman D. Pena.
Bass added a solo home run in the ninth inning to make the score 13-11, connecting on his seventh blast of the season.
McAuliffe allowed two baserunners to reach in the bottom of the ninth and was relieved by Brent Francisco (S1), who retired the two Tarpons he faced, securing Fort Myers’ first win of the second half.
The series in Tampa concludes on Sunday, June 21. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.