The No. 2 Hurricanes made the short trip to Fort Myers to take on Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday night. The Canes already beat FGCU (13-16) once earlier this season in Miami, 6-2, and they took this matchup versus the Eagles in a 4-0 shutout.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jesse Lepore pitched seven shutout innings in one of his best outings of his young career. He made quick work of the Eagles lineup, facing only 25 batters and allowing only two hits and one walk. He tallied seven strikeouts and retired 10 straight batters at the beginning of the game.
After seven stellar innings, Lepore handed things over to relievers Frankie Bartow and Bryan Garcia, who allowed only one hit combined in the last two innings.
The Canes (24-4) needed every bit of the pitching they got tonight, as the game was scoreless on both sides up until the top of the sixth inning when the heart of the Miami’s lineup came through. Cather Zack Collins and outfielder Jacob Heyward got on base to lead off the inning. Then, hits from second baseman Johnny Ruiz, shortstop Brandon Lopez and third baseman Edgar Michelangeli put the Canes up 3-0 heading to the seventh. Lopez used a sacrifice bunt in the seventh inning to give the Canes a 4-0, which the team held for the remainder of the contest.
Miami will return to ACC play over the weekend, as the team travels to South Bend to take on Notre Dame in a three-game series starting on Friday. The Canes will look to carry their hot pitching into this contest in the hopes of remaining at the top of the ACC standings once the weekend comes to a close.