NEW PORT RICHEY Fla.- AJ Shaver clubbed home runs in both ends of the doubleheader and the Bucs bullpen turned in an outstanding effort as the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers took a pair over the Pasco-Hernando State Bobcats Saturday afternoon in New Port Richey to finish off the season sweep between the two. 

 

In game one of the doubleheader Pasco-Hernando jumped in front of the Bucs 1-0 early on, but AJ Shaver homered for the second straight game to leadoff the FSW 4^th to knot the game up at 1. Later in the frame Albert Serrano wanted to get in on the fun and launched a two run shot of his own out to right to put the Bucs in front 3-1. 

 

The Bobcats got a run back in the bottom of the 4^th to make it a one run game at 3-2 in favor of FSW, but Shaver remained red hot with an RBI single in the top of the 5^th to put the Bucs up two once again at 4-2. 

 

The back and forth continued as Pasco got a run in the bottom fot the 5^th to close their gap to 4-3 once again and the Bobcats got two more in the 6^th to take a 5-4 lead on the Bucs with just one scheduled inning to go. 

 

Micahael McAloose came up with a huge one out double in the FSW 7^th and he was lifted for pinch runner Segio Rivera to swiped third and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Shaver to knot the game up at 5. 

 

Lucas Hartman put up another huge zero for FSW on the mound in the bottom of the 7^th to send the game to extras and Bucs took advantage as they loaded the bases on a walk and two hit batters in the 8^th before Rivera came up big on a two out, two strike pitch, lacing it the other way for a bases clearing triple to put FSW back ahead 8-5. 

 

That was more than enough for Hartman who shut the door from there, working around a two out walk in the 8^th to close it out for the Bucs, sealing up an 8-5 win to improve to 8-6 overall on the year. 

 

The Bucs were actually outhit 10-7 in the win, but they made their seven hits count as five, from five different players,  went for extra bases.  Shaver finished 2-4 with a homer and three RBIs while Rivera's clutch game winner in the 8^th left him 1-1 with a triple and three RBIs officially. Hartman earned his second win of the season out of the FSW bullpen, going 2 2/3 innings of one hit baseball while striking out three. 

 

 

In game two Pasco came out swinging, scoring in each of the first two innings to take an early 2-0 lead. 

 

The Bucs responded in the 3^rd as Shaver drilled an 0-1 pitch deep and out to left for a three run shot, his third home run in as many games, to give FSW a 3-2 lead on one swing of the bat.  

 

In out of the FSW bullpen in the 3rd, Kevin Rodriguez worked himself out of a bases loaded, one out jam with a strikeout and a groundout to keep the Bucs in front 3-2 at the end of three complete. 

 

The Bucs offense tacked on two more in the 4^th as Derek Williams was hit by a pitch on the second pitch of the inning and two batters later Nate Earley sent one flying over the right field wall for a two run shot to make it 5-2 FSW. 

 

The Bobcats threatened again in the bottom of the 4^th as they put two on with one out, but again Rodriguez danced around the trouble, keeping Pasco off the board and the Bucs in front 5-2. 

 

Shaver's big weekend continued in the 5^th as he doubled with two outs to keep the inning going for the Bucs before coming around to score on an RBI single from Joel Gardner to make it 6-2 FSW.  

 

Pasco looked like they were ready to make a charge right back into this one in the botto of the 5^th as they loaded the bases with nobody out, but Rodriguez again played with fire and didn't get burned, getting a double play ball before giving the ball over to Colin Brodeur who got a groundout to extinguish the flames and keep the Bucs comfortably in front 6-2. 

 

FSW added an insurance run in the 7^th on a sacrifice fly from Rivera, but they didn't need it as Brodeur picked up a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless 7^th to close it out and preserve a 7-2 win for the Bucs. 

 

For the second straight game the Bucs were outhit by the Bobcats as Pasco talled 11 knocks to just 6 for FSW.  Shaver was the star of the show yet again offensively for the Bucs as he finished 2-4 with a double, a homer, three RBIs and two runs scored. Rodriguez went 2 2/3 scoreless, but hairraising innings to earn his first career win while Brodeur notched his first career save with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless work to close things out. 

 

 

The Bucs have now won four straight to improve to 9-6 on the season while Pasco falls to 8-6. 

 

FSW is back in action four times next week as they host St. Petersburg and A3 Academy at 2:00 Tuesday and Wednesday at Buccaneers Park before hitting the road to take on Polk and Seminole State Friday ad Saturday afternoons in Winter Haven and Sanford.