Kalvin Alexander (Photo by Roy Allen)
Posted: Apr 04, 2022
Tampa, Fla.- The #9 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers continued their trend of winning close ballgames Monday afternoon on the road in Tampa, taking their series opener with the Hillsborough Hawks 6-3 behind a 14 hit attack and another outstanding effort out of the bullpen from Brian Holiday.
The Bucs had the first scoring opportunity of the afternoon as they loaded the bases with two outs in the 2nd, but a groundout ended the threat and the inning and kept the game scoreless after an inning and a half of action.
FSW put traffic on the bases again in the 3rd, but this time they came through as Hunter Fitz-Gerald dropped in an RBI single and Matthew Corpas launched a three run bomb to left to put the Bucs up 4-0.
Hillsborough answered in the bottom of the inning, putting two on with two out ahead of a double to clear the bases to cut the Bucs lead in half at 4-2.
A successful double steal for FSW in the 4th netted a run and made it a 5-2 game and in the 5th they plated another on a two out single from Jose Izarra to stretch the lead back to four at 6-2.
Bucs starter Frank Elissalt kept the lead right there, working a quick 5th and a scoreless 6th to keep it a 6-2 game to the 7th.
The Hawks made some noise in the 7th, putting two on with nobody out before pushing a run across on a groundout, but Brian Holiday came in out of the bullpen and slammed the door there, keeping FSW in front 6-3 after seven complete.
The Bucs couldn't add any insurance in the late innings, but they didn't need it as Holiday punched out the side in the 8th and worked around a leadoff walk in the 9th to close things out as FSW went on to win 6-3 to grab a 1-0 advantage in the series.
FSW banged out 14 hits in the win with nine different players recording a knock and five producing multi-hit games. Corpas led the way, going 2-5 with a double, a homer, and three RBIs while Kendry Noriega had two hits and a pair of runs scored.
Elissalt went six innings, allowing five hits and two runs to earn the win, improving to 3-2 on the year while Holiday threw three lights out innings to close things out and earn his third save of the season.
FSW wins their fourth straight to improve to 29-12 overall and 16-3 in Suncoast Conference play while Hillsborough falls to 15-22 overall and 5-11 in league action.
The Bucs and Hawks will go at it again on Wednesday in Tampa in game two of the series with first pitch scheduled for 3 PM.