Lakeland secures series victory in 7-4 win over Clearwater to cap off 2026 home slate

The Lakeland Flying Tigers (61-61, 30-27) finished off their 2026 home schedule with a 7-4 win over the Clearwater Threshers (69-54, 29-28) to notch their third consecutive series win on Sunday afternoon at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Clearwater kicked off the scoring in the second with one run off starter Kelvis Salcedo. Nolan Beltran reached on an error, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single from Cade Climie to put the Threshers ahead, 1-0.

Lakeland tied the game at 1-1 off Clearwater starter Yordanis Guerra in the bottom of the second. Michael Oliveto singled to extend his hitting streak to 11 games, moved to second on a balk and scored on an RBI double from Cris Rodriguez.

The Threshers took the lead back with one run in the fourth off Salcedo. Matthew Ferrara singled, stole second, moved to third on a Beltran single and scored on a Climie sacrifice fly to put the visitors ahead, 2-1.

The Flying Tigers countered with one run off reliever Kobe Minchey in the bottom half. Zach MacDonald led off with a walk, stole second and moved to third on wild pitch. Rodriguez tallied his fourth consecutive two-RBI game to begin his Single-A career with a groundout to tie the game at 2-2.

Lakeland took the lead with two runs in the fifth off reliever Tyler Bowen. Jack Goodman led off the inning with a single, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch. Angel De Los Santos walked, advanced to second and third on wild pitches and scored on a sacrifice fly from Jesus Pinto to push the lead to 4-2.

Clearwater cut the deficit to 4-3 with one run in the fifth off reliever Owen Hall. Ferrara singled, stole second and scored on an RBI double from Beltran.

The Flying Tigers added three more runs in the sixth off reliever Kyler Carmack. Oliveto notched a leadoff single, Rodriguez doubled and Anibal Salas drove in Oliveto with an RBI single for his 16th RBI over his last 19 starts. After Javier Osorio plated Rodriguez on a sacrifice fly, Angel De Los Santos singled, advanced to third on a wild twitch and scored on an RBI knock from Jude Warwick to extend the lead to 7-3.

The Threshers added one run back in the eighth off Hall. Ferrara led off the inning with a walk and scored on an RBI double from Will Vierling to cut the gap to 7-4.

Neither team scored the rest of the way, with Lakeland securing a third consecutive series victory for the first time since July 2025.

Reliever Yendy Gomez (7-3) notched the win, throwing 1.0 perfect inning while striking out one. Bower (4-2) took the loss, allowing two runs on one hit while walking two and punching out one over 0.2 innings.

The Flying Tigers travel to Bradenton for its final series of the season, beginning on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Both teams' starters are to be determined.