CHARLOTTE, N.C.- For the second straight week, the Florida SouthWestern State Softball team checked in at #3 in the NJCAA National Rankings released by the National Office on Monday.
The top six spots all remained unchanged with Seminole State (Ok) in the top spot, followed by Central Florida, FSW, Tyler, and Chipola to round out the top five. As expected in the early season poll, there was quite a bit of movement after that though with Region 8 foes making the biggest move as Seminole State (Fl) jumped seven spots to #13 and Indian River moved up five to #9. That puts five FCSAA squads in the top 13 and six in the top 20 with Pensacola at #19.
After a busy start to the year, the Bucs schedule has lightened in the past couple of weeks. They were in action just once last week when they terrorized Miami Dade in a doubleheader sweep. FSW outscored the Sharks 23-1 in the twinbill and outhit them 28-2 to move to 8-1 on the year. As usual, the Bucs have been strong on both sides of the ball, hitting .429 as a team with a team slugging percentage north of .650 while pitching to the tune of a 0.91 ERA and less than a baserunner per inning in the early going.
The Bucs are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Hialeah to take on ASA Miami in a non-conference doubleheader. They host home games on Thursday against Ave Maria, but not at their usual spot at City of Palms Park, instead, the Bucs and Gyrenes will square off at Cambier Park in Naples beginning at 5 PM.