FORT MYERS, Fla. (June 28, 2026) – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels held off a furious ninth inning rally by the St. Lucie Mets to win Sunday’s series finale 6-5 at Hammond Stadium. The Mussels won the series 4-1.
The Mets entered the ninth inning trailing 6-3. They quickly loaded the bases against reliver Jonathan Stevens on a single by Chase Meggers, a hit-by-pitch by Taylor Darden and a walk by Jeremy Rodriguez.
Stevens struck out Jackson Hauge for the first out but Trey Snyder followed with a two-run single to make it 6-5.
Mike McKenna replaced Stevens and got Branny De Oleo to fly out for the second out of the inning. Rodriguez tagged to third base as the tying run and Snyder tagged to second as the go-ahead run. With the game in the balance McKenna then got Antonio Jimenez to ground out to third base to end the game.
The Mets pounded out 11 hits in the game. Meggers led the charge by going 3 for 4 with two doubles, a single, a RBI and a run.
De Oleo went 2 for 4 with a double and a RBI.
Rodriguez and Hauge each went 2 for 4.
The long ball played crucial role for the Mighty Mussels. Luis Fragoza went 2 for 4 with a pair of homers. His two-run shot in the second inning off Mets starter Ethan Lanthier put the Mussels up 2-1. They would never relinquish the lead.
The Mussels scored in four straight innings from the second through the fifth. Ricardo Paez came up with a crucial two-out RBI single in the seventh inning for a 6-2 advantage.
Lanthier took the loss in his first game off the 60-day IL from Tommy John surgery. He gave up two runs and two hits over 1.2 innings.
New York Mets pitcher Dedniel Nunez (Tommy John surgery) continued his MLB rehab assignment by pitching the fourth inning. Nunez retired the first two batters but allowed consecutive hits and a run before finishing the inning.
Conner Ware pitched the bulk innings for St. Lucie. He hurled 3.2 innings and gave up two runs on three hits. He struck out six. The last five outs Ware recorded were strikeouts.
The Mets (2-5, 35-38) are off on Monday. They return to the diamond on Tuesday when they start a six-game home series vs. the Tampa Tarpon. First pitch on Tuesday at Clover Park is 6:10 p.m.