Posted: Apr 04, 2024
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers continued their dominance in the circle on Thursday, allowing just one unearned run in 14 innings of action, sweeping the visiting Seminole State Raiders 7-0 and 3-1 to make it eight straight games of two runs or less for their opponents.
The Bucs got the scoring going right away in game one as Sydney McCray walked to leadoff the game and motored around to score along with D'Yani McKinley on a two run single from Sietske Drijvers to give FSW a quick 2-0 lead on the Raiders in the 1st.
Bucs starter Lea Chevrier tossed her second straight 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd and the Bucs offense added a run in the bottom of the inning as McCray beat out a play at second to keep the inning going and bring in a run to make it 3-0 FSW at the end of two.
Neither team threatened in the 3rd and 4th as the game sailed to the 5th with FSW still in front 3-0.
The Bucs opened things up in the 5th as Skylar Brennan drilled a single back up the middle to bring home a run to make it a 4-0 game and later in the inning Ella Moore and Maddy Golka drove home runs to make it 7-0 Bucs after five.
Seminole finally looked like they were going to break through and make it a game against the Bucs in the 6th as they loaded the bases with one out and chased Chevrier from the game, but reliever Leah Meyer came in and got a big strikeout before Moore made a diving play in foul ground to bring the inning to an end with the Bucs still in front 7-0.
The Bucs couldn't push across a run to kick in the run rule in the 6th, but it didn't matter as Meyer worked a 1-2-3 top of the 7th with a pair of strikeouts to close things out and give FSW a 7-0 shutout win.
Chevrier went 5 1/3 shutout innings to earn the win and improve to 18-0 on the year while Meyer retired all five hitters she faced to close things out. Drijvers finished 1-3 with three RBIs while Moore, Golka, and Emily Allegood each had two hits for FSW.
The Bucs faced quite a bit more pressure from the Raiders in game two.
Seminole put a runner in scoring position right away in the 1st and got a one out single, but couldn't score their first run of the afternoon.
The Bucs took an early lead in the bottom of the 1st as McKinley laid down a perfect bunt to reach base, stole second and advanced to third on a Seminole error before Drijvers drove her home with a groundout to put FSW in front 1-0.
Back to back one out singles gave Seminole another chance to score in the 2nd and they had runners on second and third with nobody out before back to back strikeouts from Bucs starter Esmee Ames extinguished the flames and kept it a 1-0 game through 2 1/2.
The Bucs flashed their speed again in the bottom of the 3rd to sneak out a run as Mia Terito scored from second on a fielder's choice to second base to double the FSW lead to 2-0 at the end of three.
FSW loaded the bases with one out in the 5th with Terito and McKinley in the middle of the action once again and a sac fly from Drijvers brought a run home to make it 3-0 Bucs after five.
It took an FSW error in the 7th for Seminole to finally crack the scoreboard for the first time on the day in their final at bats, but the Bucs got a slick 6-3 double play from Terito to finish things off and close out a 3-1 win to wrap up the doubleheader sweep.
The Raiders actually outhit the Bucs 8-6 in the contest, but it was the execution by FSW that shined through as all three runs were driven in by Drijvers without a hit in the victory. McKinley finished a perfect 3-3 with a run scored while Terito was 2-2 with two runs scored for FSW in the win. Ames went the distance in the circle, running her steak to 23 straight innings without allowing an earned run to improve to 13-4 on the year.
The Bucs run their win streak to eight straight games as they improve to 38-4 overall and 25-3 in Citrus Conference play with the sweep. Seminole continues their late season struggles as they drop to 21-17 overall and 11-15 in league play.
FSW will be back at it on Saturday when they make the long trip across the state to Daytona Beach to take on Daytona State in a Citrus Conference doubleheader beginning at noon.
