PANAMA CITY, Fla.- The #16 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers hung on late for an 8-6 win over Andrew before coming up just short against Pearl River 6-3 to split a pair of games at the Visit Panama City Beach College Classic Saturday in the Florida Panhandle. 

 

Andrew got on the board first in the Bucs first game of the day as a two out error allowed the Fighting Tigers to extend the inning and they made FSW pay with a double to drive home a run to give themselves an early 1-0 lead. 

The Bucs offense responded right away, putting up a three spot in the bottom half of the inning as Eric Blair doubled home a run and Luca Danos singled through the left side to bring two more home to put FSW in front 3-1. 

 

FSW continued to swing the bats in the 2^nd as Michael McAloose doubled home a run and Jared Davis did the same two pitches later to make it a 5-1 game. Blair then picked up his second RBI knock in as many innings, giving the Bucs a 6-1 lead at the end of two innings of action. 

 

The Bucs made it a 7-1 game in the 3^rd and it looked like the rout was on, but Andrew had different plans. 

 

The Fighting Tigers got a solo home run to begin the 4^th and later in the inning added another tally to cut the Bucs lead to 7-3. 

 

The Bucs looked like they were going to get out of a bases loaded jam in the 4^th with a ground ball to short, but it was misplayed and allowed the Tigers second unearned run of the game to score to make it a 7-4 game. 

 

A sacrifice fly off the bat of Nik Pereira gave the Bucs some breathing room in the 5^th as they went back up four, 8-4. 

 

Andrew made things interesting in the 7^th as another FSW error gave the Fighting Tigers some life as they plated a pair of runs and brought the tying run to the plate, but Bucs reliever Brandon Gonsalves ended things there, earning his first save as a Buc while finishing off an 8-6 win for the Purple and Aqua. 

 

The Bucs offense finished with 13 hits in the win led by Victor Figueroa who was a perfect 3-3 with a double while Blair was 2-2 with a double and 2 RBIs in the victory. Landon O'Donnell earned his first win as a Buc, going two innings and allowing one hit and one unearned run to even his record at 1-1 on the year. 

 

 

The Bucs didn't have any time to celebrate the win as they turned around and were right back at it just 30 minutes after the final pitch of game one as they took on Pearl River in the consolation bracket semifinals.  

 

The Wildcats ambushed the Bucs in the 1st, cracking back to back home runs to start their half of the inning to take a 2-0 lead in the blink of an eye. 

 

Luca Danos did the same to start the FSW 2nd, picking up his first long ball as a Buc to cut the Pearl River lead in half at 2-1 after two. 

 

The Wildcats popped their third home run in the first three innings with two outs in the 3^rd to pad their lead back to 3-1.

 

FSW had a golden opportunity to get right back into the game in the 4^th as they put runners on second and third with nobody out, but a pop up, a strikeout, and a ground out on the infield ended the threat and kept the Wildcats in front 3-1. 

 

After thumping their way to a 3-1 lead in the contest, Pearl River used some small ball to build on their advantage in the 4th, plating a pair on a double and a couple of bunts to open up a 5-1 lead on FSW.  

 

Figueroa kept the Bucs 5^th alive with a two out single and Nate Earley made it pay off as he launched his third home run of the season over the right field wall to cut the Bucs deficit in half to 5-3. 

 

With the Wildcats leading 6-3 into the 7th, the Bucs put up a fight, bringing the tying run to the plate with two outs, but it was all for naught as a fly ball ended the threat and therefore the game as Pearl River hung on to win 6-3. 

 

Earley finished 2-4 with a home run and Figueroa was 2-2 with a pair of walks in the loss for FSW.  Isaac Upole suffered the loss on the mound, allowing four hits and three runs, all earned in three innings of work. 

 

 

FSW drops back under .500 with the loss at 3-4 overall on the year while seeing their record in the Visit Panama City Beach Classic drop to 1-2. 

 

The Bucs were scheduled to take on Citrus Conference rival Miami Dade Sunday in their final game of the weekend in the bracketed event, but tournament organizers have shuffled around the lineup and FSW will now square off with Chipola at 1:30 ET to close out their trip to the Panhandle.