Posted: Jan 29, 2022
CLEARWATER, Fla.- Pitchers beware, the defending National Champion Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers have reloaded and are as dangerous as ever. Saturday, the top ranked Bucs hammered out 35 hits and scored 29 runs in just eight offensive innings in 12-4 and 17-3 run rule wins over Marshalltown and USC Union at the 2022 Juco Kickoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida to breeze to 5-0 on the year.
The Bucs wasted little time in jumping in front in their first game of the day against Marshalltown, plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the 1st to get out to a 2-0 lead.
FSW added to its lead in the 2nd as Laura Vigna banged an RBI double to left to make it 3-0 ahead of a two run home run from Sterre den Duijn to stretch the lead to 5-0.
A Tiger error in the 3rd allowed the Bucs sixth run of the game to score to make it 6-0.
Marshalltown got on the board for the first time with a run in the top of the 4th, but the Bucs came out swinging again in the bottom of the frame as Feline Poot homered and Beth Reid tripled and drove home a run to blow the game wide open to 12-1 after four.
The Tigers tried to keep the game going, getting three runs in the 5th and threatening another, but Reid gunned down a runner at the plate trying to score on a single to end the game, giving the Bucs an exciting end to an otherwise mundane 12-4 run rule win for FSW.
The Bucs banged out 16 hits in the win led by Poot who finished 3-3 with three runs scored, missing the cycle by just a triple. Den Duijn was 1-2 with a home run and three RBIs while Reid finished 2-3 with a triple and to RBIs. Baylee Haggard benefitted from the offensive explosion to earn her second win of the year in the circle, going 3 1/3 innings and allowing two hits and one unearned run to improve to 2-0.
It was more of the same for the Bucs in their second game of the day as they took on USC Union.
Union actually took an early 2-0 lead, taking advantage of three walks and a wild pitch to plate a pair of runs, but their lead was short lived.
The Bucs loaded the bases with nobody out in their first cracks at the plate and captain Taylor Jensen cleaned them up, launching a grand slam to dead center field, quickly giving FSW the lead 4-2. They weren't done there as Charlotte Drijvers ripped an RBI single to make it 5-2 and three straight run scoring hits from Poot, McKenzie Whittenberg, and den Duijn cushioned the lead to 9-2 after one.
Things calmed down with a scoreless 2nd, but the Bucs were back at it in the 3rd.
An RBI double from den Duijn make it a 10-2 game and Jensen followed suit with a two bagger or her own to stretch the lead to 11-2 for the Bucs. Later in the frame Mikayla Velasquez drove home her first run as a Buc with an RBI single and Drijvers plated FSW's fourth run of the inning to make it 13-2. Velasquez scored later in the inning to push the FSW lead to 14-2 after three innings of play.
The Bantams got a run in the top of the 4th, but FSW put up three more in the bottom of the inning, putting the finishing touches on a 17-3 run rule win for the Bucs.
After 16 hits in their opening game of the day, the Bucs one upped themselves with 19 in game two. Jensen was 2-3 with a homer, a double, and five RBIs and Drijvers was 3-4 with four RBIs of her own. Den Duijn and Wittenberg both had three hits for the Bucs and Poot and Velasquez both had a pair of RBIs. Kylee Graham picked up her third win of the weekend in the circle, going 3 2/3 innings of one run relief to improve to 3-0 on the year.
The Bucs improve to 5-0 with the wins, putting up 56 runs in just 24 offensive innings of work on the weekend.
FSW is back in action in their 2022 home openers on Thursday when they host Southern Idaho at City of Palms Park for a doubleheader beginning at 4 PM. Make sure to get there early as the Bucs will honor their returning players from their 2021 NJCAA National Championship team in a pregame ceremony.