Posted: Apr 26, 2023
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were tripped up Wednesday afternoon in their Southern Conference finale against the Eastern Florida State Titans, falling behind 5-0 early and never catching up as the Titans took the game 7-6 to win the season series 4-3 against the Bucs.
Eastern was first on the board Wednesday as the Titans got a two out double in the 2nd to push across the game's first run and take a 1-0 lead.
FSW's deficit grew in the 4th as the Titans got a two run home run to make it 3-0 and then a pair of Buccaneer errors on a double steal allowed both runs to score and Eastern to extend their advantage to 5-0.
The Bucs picked up their first hit of the game in the bottom of the 4th and it was a bit one as Nate Earley cracked a two run home run out to deep right center to get FSW back in the game at 5-2.
Another FSW error allowed Eastern to extend their lead to four at 6-2 in the 6th, but the Bucs answered in the bottom half of the frame as AJ Shaver cracked his 19th home run of the season to make it 6-3 and later in the inning a wild pitch and an RBI groundout allowed two more runs to score to make it a one run game at 6-5 at the end of six.
The Bucs fell asleep defensively after a one out double in the 7th , allowing Eastern Florida to steal home to add a much needed insurance run and make it 7-5 at stretch time.
Shaver factored into another run scoring inning for the Bucs in the 8th as he doubled down the line to leadoff the inning and came in to score on a wild pitch to get the Bucs back to within one at 7-6.
Kevin Rodriguez gave the Bucs a chance, working a quick 1-2-3 top of the 9th with a pair of strikeouts to keep it a one run game, but the Bucs couldn't get anything going in their final at bats as they went down in order to end the game as Eastern held on to win it 7-6.
AJ Shaver hit in his 18th straight game and launched his 12th home run in the Bucs past 13 games in the defeat while Earley was 2-4 with a homer and three RBIs. Colin Brodeur took the loss on the mound, allowing seven hits and five runs in 3 2/3 innings of work to fall to 4-3 on the year. Rodriguez closed out the game with two scoreless frames, striking out four and allowing just two hits.
FSW falls to 30-20 overall and closes their first season of Southern Conference play at 11-10, good for second place. Eastern Florida ends their 2023 campaign 23-26 overall and 6-15 in league action.
The Bucs have one more tune up before the postseason begins as they host A3 Academy Friday at noon at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers.