FORT MYERS, FLA.- The #4 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers put an emphatic stop to a two game slide on Sunday afternoon at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, hammering St. Petersburg 10-0 behind an 11 hit attack and a complete game shutout from sophomore righty Mitch Myers.
The Bucs got thing going early and often Sunday as Mikey Burke singled to lead off the game and stolen second and third base before scoring on a wild pitch to give FSW a 1-0 lead. They weren't done there, getting an RBI single from Warner Rincones and a sacrifice fly from Nathan Kinsch later in the inning to push their lead to 3-0 after one.
FSW starter Mitch Myers punched out the side in the second and worked another quick 1-2-3 inning in the third to allow the Bucs to add onto their lead in the bottom of the third. The Bucs used their speed to score two more runs on a double steal and a throwing error on another stolen base attempt and got Rincones' second RBI in the first three innings to push their lead to 6-0.
They were back at it again in the fourth behind Rincones as he ripped an RBI single to left to make it a 7-0 game and scored moments later as Jose Marcano brought him home on a knock to cushion the lead to 8-0.
Myers continued to dominate, retiring six in a row in the fifth and sixth innings to keep the Bucs up big as the teams went to the seventh.
Marcano picked up his fourth hit of the game to start the FSW seventh and Kinsch put the Titans out of their misery with a defacto walk off two run home run to left to give the Bucs a 10-0 run rule victory.
The Bucs pounded out 11 hits in the win, getting a 4 for 4 day from Marcano and three RBI days from Rincones and Kinsch in the contest. Myers was spectacular, notching a five hit shutout on just 82 pitches to improve to 5-1 on the year. The sophomore struck out eight and didn't walk a single batter in the victory.
FSW improves to 24-5 overall, evening up the series with the Titans and pushing their Suncoast Conference record to 6-2. St. Petersburg drops to 11-15 overall and 4-4 in league play.
The two will play the rubber game of the three game set on Monday in Clearwater in a 6 PM first pitch.