FORT MYERS, FLA.- The #11 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers made school history on Friday night at City of Palms Park, hanging on for an 8-7 victory over Polk State, their 28th win of the season to set a new school record for wins in a year.
The Bucs jumped in front right away in the first as Mikey Burke used his wheels to beat out an infield single then stole second, advanced to third on an error on the throw, and scored on a wild pitch to give FSW a 1-0 lead. Moments later Connor Bagnieski flared one into left for an RBI single and later in the inning he scored on a successful double steal to put the Bucs up 3-0 after one.
It remained a 3-0 game into the fifth when Polk got on the board for the first time. The Eagles used a pair of walks and a single to get their first run of the inning and greeted the Bucs bullpen with a double to the gap to score another to cut the FSW lead to 3-2.
Polk looked like they were going to take the lead in the top of the sixth as they put runners on second and third with nobody out, but Thomas Haggerty worked out of the mess with a pair of strikeouts and a ground ball to keep the Bucs in front 3-2.
FSW used the momentum to pad their lead in the bottom half of the frame as Shamir Morales and Victor Florentino ripped back to back RBI singles and Burke stayed out of a double play as he busted it up the line to drive home another to stretch the Bucs lead to 6-2.
Polk answered right back as FSW pitching hit back to back Eagle batters to start the inning and Polk loaded the bases with nobody out in the inning. A base hit scored two to cut the FSW lead in half but the Bucs threw out a runner on the bases and then got back to back strikeouts to avert further damage and keep a 6-4 lead.
The back and forth contest continued in the bottom of the seventh as FSW got a two out RBI single from Tommy Joseph on a fortunate hop and scored another run on a throwing error on the same play to make it 8-4.
The Bucs looked like they were in trouble in the eighth as Polk pushed two runs across on just one hit and had the bases loaded again with nobody out in an 8-6 game. A pop up on the infield and a strikeout lessened the threat, but another hit batter, the Bucs fourth of the night forced a run home and made it a one run game at 8-7. That's when Joey Mugavero came up big for FSW, getting a three pitch strikeout to put out the fire and strand the bases loaded, keeping the Bucs in front by one, 8-7.
FSW had a golden opportunity to add some insurance in the bottom of the eighth with runners on second and third with nobody out and the top of their lineup coming up. They couldn't come through with the big hit though, striking out twice and hitting a lazy fly ball to the outfield to leave the ducks on the pond as the game headed to the final inning with FSW still clinging to an 8-7 lead.
There would be no drama in the ninth though. Mugavero came through with a pair of big strikeouts to begin the inning and then got a fly ball to left to seal the victory as the Bucs hung on to win 8-7 to take the series 2-1.
Each team had 10 hits with Florentino and Joseph leading the way for FSW with three hits apiece. Five different players drove in runs for the Bucs and FSW drew a characteristic eighth walks in the victory. Haggerty earned the win with a scoreless inning out of the bullpen to improve to 3-1 on the year while Mugavero tossed two scoreless to close things out for his second save of the season.
The Bucs win their school record 28th game of the year to improve to 28-8 overall and 10-5 in Suncoast Conference play where they sit in first place after the first round of games. Polk State falls to 15-20 overall and 5-10 in league play with some work to do if their recent run of success to the state tournament is to continue.
After a busy schedule in March, the Bucs will now have a chance to catch their breath as they are off until Wednesday when they travel to Miami to take on Miami Dade in non-conference action. FSW returns to Suncoast Conference play next weekend when they open up a three game set against State College of Florida on Saturday, April 6th at 1 PM at City of Palms Park.