CLEARWATER, Fla. (July 5, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Clearwater Threshers by a final score of 6-2 on Sunday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark.
Fort Myers (45-34, 8-6) sent Justin Mitrovich (1-3) to the mound to make his tenth start of the season. The Threshers (48-33, 8-7) loaded the bases out on an infield single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Matthew Ferrara hit a bases-clearing double to put Clearwater on top 3-0.
It marked the fourth consecutive game the Mussels have allowed at least one run in the first inning against the Threshers.
Juan Villavicencio added an RBI double against Mitrovich in the bottom of the second to extend Clearwater’s lead to four.
Ryan Sprock doubled in the top of the third inning to extend the Mussels’ extra-base hit streak to 31 consecutive games. The Mussels’ era record is 32, set in 2024 from late-July to September.
In the top of the fourth inning, Irvin Nunez connected on his third home run of the year to put Fort Myers on the scoreboard 4-1.
An inning later, facing James Tallon (2-1), Murphy Hernandez recorded an RBI groundout to score Byron Chourio to cut the deficit to two.
Kolten Smith relieved Mitrovich in the bottom of the fifth. Smith allowed one-out doubles in both the fifth and sixth innings, but maneuvered scoreless frames in each.
Jonathan Stevens took over for Smith in the seventh. Following an error by Ramiro Dominguez that would have ended the inning, Will Vierling hit a two-run home run to put the Threshers’ lead back to four runs, 6-2.
The score held that way, and Fort Myers dropped four of the final five games of the series.
Clearwater is the only team in the Florida State League West Division to have a winning record against Fort Myers this season (6-3 vs. FTM). The teams will meet 12 more times; at Hammond Stadium in August and again at BayCare Ballpark in early September.
The Mussels return home on Tuesday, July 7 for the start of a nine-game home stand. First pitch against the Bradenton Marauders is set for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.