FORT MYERS, FLA.- Florida SouthWestern State sophomore Mitch Myers came up big when his team needed him the most on Monday, tossing a complete game shutout in a 2-0 Buccaneer win over Hillsborough to give FSW first place in the Suncoast Conference all to themselves with five games left to go in the regular season.
Both teams had a chance to score right off the bat in the first inning as the Bucs got a leadoff single on the first pitch of the game and Hillsborough put two on with just one out in the bottom of the inning, but neither could push anything across and with that, started a pitcher's duel for the ages.
The next chance for either side came in the FSW fourth when Jose Marcano doubled with two outs and tried to score on a single from Nathan Kinsch, but was gunned down at the plate to keep it a scoreless draw through 3 ½.
Buccaneer starter Mitch Myers didn't run into any trouble until the fifth when the Hawks were able to put runners on the corners with two out before he induced a pop up on the infield to get out of the jam and keep it a 0-0 game.
The Bucs finally got their bats going in the top half of the sixth as Tommy Joseph doubled to lead off the frame and Connor Bagnieski quickly drove him in with a single to make it 1-0 FSW. Later in the inning Bagnieski stole second and Mikey Burke advanced him to third on a selfless at bat with a ground ball to first. The Bucs continued to play team baseball as Marcano then drove Bagnieski in from third with a sacrifice fly to extend the FSW lead to 2-0.
That was all the offense that the Bucs could muster, but that was all that Myers needed as he gained steam as the game went along, retiring 10 of the final 11 batters he faced, including 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth to finish off his shutout and give FSW a huge 2-0 win in the series opener.
For Myers, it was his second complete game shutout of the season as he went all nine innings, scattering six hits while striking out eight to earn his team best sixth win of the season. Myers has been arguably the Bucs best starter over the past three weeks, lowering his ERA from 4.77 to 3.53 after three straight quality starts, going six or more innings and allowing one run or less.
Maracano paced a nine hit attack for the Bucs, going 2 for 3 with an RBI while Kinsch also finished the game with two knocks.
FSW has now won seven straight to improve to 36-11 overall and 17-8 in Suncoast Conference action where they sit alone in first place, a game up on State College of Florida, and a game and a half up on Hillsborough with five left to play. The Hawks drop to 24-21 overall and 15-9 in league play with the loss, if the playoffs started today, Hillsborough would be the odd man out in the three horse race.
The Bucs will look to clinch a series win on Wednesday at home when they host the Hawks in a 6 PM start at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers.