Lakeland secures series victory with 6-run 7th inning en route to 8-3 win over St. Lucie

The Lakeland Flying Tigers (18-15) used a six-run, four-hit seven inning to surge to an 8-4 win over the St. Lucie Mets (14-19) on Sunday afternoon at Joker Marchant Stadium.
Lakeland kicked off the scoring in the second off starter Daviel Hurtado. Carson Rucker smashed his second home run of the season, a solo shot to give the Flying Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Lakeland added one more in the fourth off Nicolas Carreno. Rucker drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single from Eidan Espinal, who gave the Flying Tigers a 2-0 lead and extended his on-base streak to a team-season-high 12 games.
Lakeland starter Charlie Christensen recorded an excellent start, hurling 4.0 shutout innings while striking out six and walking none.
St. Lucie countered with one run in the sixth off Andrew Pogue. Elian Pena reached on a leadoff walk and Randy Guzman singled. Guzman was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double, which allowed Pena to score from third, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The Mets added one in the seventh off Pogue. Julio Zayas led off with a single and scored on a single from Chase Meggers, tying the game at 2-2.
The Flying Tigers responded with six runs in the bottom half, with the first five charged to Elwis Mijares and the final run given to Joe Scarborough. Sergio Tapia led off the inning with his second home run of the season. Anibal Salas and Jack Goodman each walked and Beau Ankeney singled. Rucker drew an RBI walk and Javier Osorio laced a two-run single. Espinal followed with a two-run knock to help Lakeland surge to an 8-2 lead.
St. Lucie added one in the ninth off Jatnk Diaz. Simon Juan singled, moved to second on a walk from Branny De Oleo and scored on an RBI single from Pena, capping the scoring at 8-3.
Pogue (1-0) earned the win, going 3.0 innings while allowing five hits and two runs while striking out three and walking one. Mijares (2-2) took the loss, surrendering five runs on two hits while walking three and punching out one.
Lakeland begins a six-game set at Clearwater on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Each team’s starting pitchers is to be determined.