Mighty Mussels, Threshers Split Opening Night Doubleheader Behind Strong Pitching

GAME ONE BOX SCORE

GAME TWO BOX SCORE

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 3, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels split a doubleheader against the Clearwater Threshers on Friday night at the Lee Health Sports Complex to open the 2026 season.

The Mussels (1-1) managed just two hits across 13 offensive innings, but Minnesota Twins’ second rounder Quentin Young delivered an RBI triple in the nightcap to force the split.

Quentin Young rips an RBI triple to straight-away center field at 🚨106.6 mph🚨 to put the Mussels on the board in game two of our DH!

Ryan Sprock follows a sacrifice fly to add another run💪#MNTwins

Top 2 | FTM 2, CLR 0 pic.twitter.com/f0Lmc8Qijr

— Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (@MightyMussels) April 3, 2026

Fort Myers' pitching allowed just one extra-base hit across 14 innings while striking out 18 total Thresher (1-1) batters and issuing just three walks.

Game One: The Mussels were defeated in their season opener by the Threshers in a seven-inning contest by a final score of 2-0. This game was originally scheduled for April 2, but was postponed due to persistent rain in the area.

Manager Jordan Smith made his Mussels debut on Friday, giving the ball to Joel Garcia (0-1).

Garcia took the loss following four innings of work, allowing one earned run and striking out four. Philadelphia’s No. 4 prospect Gage Wood retired 11 of the 13 batters he faced across four innings.

The Mussels’ bats were quiet in game one as the offense never got a runner into scoring position. Byron Chourio had Fort Myers’ lone hit in the bottom of the third inning.

Mighty Mussels’ pitching was strong in its own right, as Garcia and Kolten Smith combined to allow just four hits, with Smith retiring all nine batters he faced in his professional debut. The pair of righties tallied six strikeouts while only walking one Thresher batter.

The Mussels’ duo combined to retire the final 13 Clearwater hitters of the game.

Phillies No. 17 prospect Sean Youngerman (1-0) retired all nine batters he faced and picked up two strikeouts. Thresher pitching faced just one batter above the minimum.

Game Two: The Mussels won their first game of the season in the back-end of the doubleheader Friday evening, defeating the Threshers by a final score of 2-0.

After being shutout in game one, the Mussels’ offense put together a pair of runs early in game two. In the bottom of the first, Jason Bass reached on a one-out walk and stole second to get into scoring position. Young, the Twins No. 14 prospect opened the scoring with a 106.6 mph triple that short hopped the wall in straight-away center field. Designated hitter Ryan Sprock followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead 2-0.

Despite Young’s three-bagger being the only hit of the night for Fort Myers, it ended up being the difference in the game due to another pair of strong performances on the mound.

James Ellwanger took the ball for the Mussels in his professional debut, and worked three strong innings, allowing two hits and striking out four batters. Three of his four strikeouts came with the bases loaded in the second inning.

During that stretch across the second and third innings, Ellwanger retired four consecutive Threshers via the strikeout, with all four coming on full counts. The Dallas Baptist product topped out at 98.7 mph and threw 18 of his 57 pitches at least 96 mph.

Twins No. 16 prospect James Ellwanger strikes out the side after loading the bases in his pro debut!⛽️⛽️⛽️#MNTwins

Bot 2 | FTM 2, CLR 0 pic.twitter.com/ezpjiMm1i3

— Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (@MightyMussels) April 3, 2026

Ellwanger handed the ball off to Reed Moring (1-0), who struck out seven batters across the final four innings of the game to seal the first win of the season for the Mussels. Moring allowed a pair of singles and did not issue a walk. He threw 36 of his 46 pitches for strikes.

The Mussels and Clearwater Threshers conclude their three-game series on Saturday, April 4. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 5:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.