Mussels’ Offense Quiet in First Home Sunday Loss of Season

BOX SCORE

FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 12, 2026) - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Bradenton Marauders by a final score of 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at Lee Health Sports Complex.

Fort Myers (46-38, 9-10) suffers its first Sunday home loss of the season. They had been 5-0 heading into the finale against Bradenton (41-44, 10-10).

Luis Fragoza rocked a first inning home run to get the scoring started. His tenth home run of the season came off the bat at 101.3 mph, travelling 428 feet to put the Mighty Mussels in front.

Fort Myers sent Merit Jones to the mound to make his ninth start of the season. Jones worked two lightning-fast frames to begin the game, throwing just seven pitches in both the first and second innings.

Jones retired the first 10 batters he faced on just 31 pitches. Eddie King Jr. poked a single up the middle with one out in the fourth. Jones then induced a double play off the bat of Edgleen Perez, as he faced the minimum through four innings on 37 pitches.

Jones exited after five shutout innings, striking out four batters on 58 pitches, 37 of which were strikes. The first five innings of the game took just one hour and one minute to play.

Billy Oldham was the first man out of the Mussels’ bullpen on Sunday. Oldham worked two scoreless innings, working around two baserunners in the seventh inning.

Jeter Martinez (2-4) took over in the sixth for Bradenton after five innings of three-hit, nine-strikeout ball from starter Levi Sterling. Martinez retired the side in order in the sixth.

Jonathan Stevens (4-2) came out of the bullpen in the eighth inning, protecting a one-run lead. Stevens walked the lead off hitter then gave up a two-run home run to put Bradenton in front.

Later in the frame, Richard Ramirez knocked a run-scoring single into right-center field to make the score 3-1 Marauders.

In the ninth inning, Bradenton added two runs, one against each of Eric Hammond and Adam Falinski. The Marauders totaled five singles in the inning and made all three outs on the basepaths.

The Mussels rallied in the bottom of the ninth, scoring one run, but fell short of the comeback. Fort Myers has now lost back-to-back series for the first time this season.

After this week’s All-Star Break, the Mighty Mussels welcome the Lakeland Flying Tigers to Hammond Stadium for a three-game series beginning on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.