FORT MYERS, Fla.- The 2020 version of the Florida SouthWestern State Baseball team was undoubtedly known for their 'Cardiac Kids' moniker, rarely failing to keep fans on the edge of their seats until the final out of the 9th inning…. Or beyond. Our #7 moment on our countdown of the Top 10 FSW Athletics moments of 2019-20 shows just that, as the Bucs rallied from three down in the 9th to force extra innings and eventually walk off national power San Jacinto with a victory.
Beaten down after a busy schedule, long travel, and two extra inning games in the previous four days, the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers took the field in the Florida Panhandle against National power San Jacinto on a late Saturday night in early February. The game went back and forth early until the Gators took a 7-4 lead with a four run 5th, but that wasn't overly relevant to the headline story on this day. A strong San Jac bullpen kept it a 7-4 game as the two teams played deep into the night with the score still 7-4 as they went to the 9th. Down to their final three outs and needing three runs to keep the game alive, the Bucs looked all but finished as they came to the plate for their 17th inning of baseball of the day. But if you believed that was the case, you didn't follow the 2020 Bucs very closely. Noah Heisler singled the other way to begin the inning and Connor Bagnieski was drilled with a 3-2 pitch to put two on with nobody out in the inning. Tommy Joseph continued his huge game against the Gators with an RBI single through the hole on the right side to put the tying run on base for the Purple and Aqua. Jared Campbell was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, still with nobody out in the frame and a groundout drew the Bucs to within one at 7-6. That's when 'Bucs Ball' came out as the Bucs pulled a trick play out of their sleeve to allow Joseph to steal home to tie the game at 7 and send the game to extra innings. Do it all Tommy Joseph came out of the bullpen to throw the 10th for FSW and struck out the side to give the Bucs a chance to walk it off in the 10th. That is exactly what they did as Drake Dobyanski, Tyler Fote, and Bagnieski worked their way on base before guess who, Tommy Joseph, came up huge again with an RBI single to right to give the Bucs an 8-7 walk off win to stun the Gators at 1:15 in the morning.
It was the third walk off in four games for the Bucs, who made it a point to give fans their money's worth in 2020.
FSW finished the COVID shortened season 16-11 overall and will have to wait until the Spring of 2021 to defend their first Suncoast Conference Championship in program history from 2019.
Stay tuned to FSWBucs.com and @FSWBucs on social media on Friday as we continue our countdown to the top moment of the Bucs Athletics season with our #6 spot on the list!
Top 10 Moments of the 2019-2020 FSW Athletics Year
#10- Bucs Volleyball Opens Inaugural Season
#9- Bucs Women's Basketball Earns Second Straight Bid to Nationals
#8- Ellefson Blasts Three Home Runs vs. Miami Dade
#7- Bucs Baseball Stuns San Jac in Extras
#6- 7/10/20
#5- 7/13/20
#4- 7/14/20
#3- 7/15/20
#2- 7/16/20
#1- 7/17/20