LAKELAND, FLA.- Playing in their first FCSAA State Tournament in program history, the #11 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers could never get their bats going Friday afternoon, managing just two hits in a 2-1 loss to Santa Fe to fall to the tournament's elimination bracket Saturday.
FSW starter Mitch Myers gave the Bucs a chance early, coming out with electric stuff, striking out the side in the first with a fastball that sat at 94 miles per hour on the stadium gun.
Myers struck out two more in the second and putting up his third zero of the afternoon in the third, but the Bucs couldn't get anything going on the offensive end as the game breezed through three innings of action scoreless.
The Bucs had their first real scoring chance in the fifth as they used a Santa Fe error and a walk to put two runners in scoring position with two outs, but a strikeout ended the threat and kept it a 0-0 game through five.
Tommy Joseph made a spectacular defensive play for FSW in the sixth to save a run, helping Myers get through six with his shutout still intact.
The Bucs finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth as their leadoff man reached on a Saint error and they picked up their first hit of the game on a single by Warnner Rincones to put two on with nobody out. Joseph came up big on the offensive end with a chopper through the infield to get the Bucs on the board and put them in front 1-0. They looked like they were primed to add more as they had runners on second and third with nobody out, but a lineout, a strikeout, and a pop out doused the fire and it would come back to haunt them later.
After playing a near flawless game on the mound and defensively in the first six innings, the Bucs crumbled in the seventh. Three walks and two errors gifted Santa Fe a pair of runs to give the Saints their first lead of the game at 2-1.
Ryan Gusto kept the game there in the eighth and ninth, but the Bucs again couldn't come up with the big hit with a chance to tie the game as FSW left the equalizer at second as the game came to a close in the ninth to fall 2-1.
The game featured just six hits, four for Santa Fe and two for FSW. The Bucs were outstanding on the mound as Myers went six strong innings, allowing just three hits while striking out nine. Gusto came in out of the bullpen to throw three innings, yielding just one hit and one unearned run while punching out eight, but was tagged with the loss to fall to 7-2 on the year.
FSW falls to 40-13 on the year while Santa Fe improves to 38-15.
The loss drops the Bucs to the elimination bracket where they will play the loser of the Miami Dade/Chipola game on Saturday at 1 PM with their season on the line.
