Two first-inning solo home runs and Malachi Witherspoon’s excellent outing led the Lakeland Flying Tigers (16-14) to a 4-1 win over the St. Lucie Mets (13-17) on Thursday night at Joker Marchant Stadium.
In what became a pitchers’ duel, the first inning belonged to both offenses. Sam Robertson began the game with a leadoff triple and scored on a single from AJ Salgado as St. Lucie began the scoring with one run off the starter Witherspoon.
Lakeland immediately responded in the bottom half off starter Frank Camarillo. A last-minute addition to Thursday’s lineup, Zach MacDonald hit his Florida State League-leading ninth home run of the season, a 439-foot blast to right-center field to lead off the bottom of the first. Two hitters later, Jack Goodman crushed a homer to right-center, giving the Flying Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Witherspoon twirled the most dominant outing of his young career, striking out 10 while walking just one over 5.0 innings and allowing just three hits and one run. He surrendered just one hit after the first inning. His 10 punchouts were the most by a Lakeland pitcher since Gabriel Reyes’ 11 strikeouts in August of 2024.
The Flying Tigers scored the only two runs of the rest of the contest in the sixth inning off Elwis Mijares. Beau Ankeney was hit by a pitch and Carson Rucker walked. Both moved up 90 feet on a balk and scored on a two-run single from Javier Osorio, extending Lakeland’s lead to 4-1.
Pedro Garcia had an excellent outing in relief of Witherspoon, hurling 3.0 shutout innings of one-hit ball while striking out three and walking one.
Witherspoon (1-0) earned the first win of his professional career while Camarillo (0-2) took the tough-luck loss. The right-hander allowed just two first-inning runs and three total hits over 5.0 frames while recording five punchouts and one walk. Jatnk Diaz (1) earned the first save of his three-plus-year professional career, closing out the game with a scoreless ninth while surrendering one hit and collecting one strikeout.
The Flying Tigers look to earn at least a series split with a win on Friday as they host the Mets in the fourth game of a six-game set at 6:30 p.m. RHP Troy Melton (0-1, 5.40) takes the mound for Lakeland as he squares off against St. Lucie RHP Cam Tilly (2-0, 4.64
