Posted: Apr 09, 2024
BRADENTON, Fla.- The #4 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were tested in game one of their doubleheader against the State College of Florida Manatees, sneaking past their Citrus Conference rivals 4-2 before dominating game two of the twinbill in a 12-0 five inning run rule to top the 40 win mark for the eighth consecutive season.
Game one was scoreless in the 3rd when D'Yani McKinley used her wheels to leg out an RBI bunt single to put the Bucs on the board and later in the inning Skylar Brennan drilled a two run double to center to make it 3-0 FSW after three.
The Bucs played some more small ball in the 4th as McKinley loaded the bases with another well located bunt before Sietske Drijvers walked with the bases loaded to force home a run and make it 4-0 Bucs after 3 1/2.
FSW starter Lea Chevrier worked through her fourth straight scoreless frame in the 4th with a little help of her defense as Drijvers gunned down a runner on the basepaths to end the inning to keep it 4-0 FSW after four.
State College of Florida finally broke through in the 6th, getting started on an FSW error before back to back walks loaded the bases with nobody out. A double on a flair to right scored two before Chevrier beared down and escaped further damage to keep the Bucs in front 4-2.
Things looked a little hairy for the Bucs in the bottom of the 7th as the Manatees loaded the bases with nobody out on three straight singles to begin the frame. The Bucs erased one runner at home on a ground ball on the infield and reliever Esmee Ames earned her lunch money from there, striking out the next two hitters she faced to extinguish the flames and win it for the Bucs 4-2.
McKinley was the lone Buc to finish with more than one hit, going 2-3 with a run scored and an RBI in the win. Chevrier earned the win in the circle, going six strong innings, allowing four hits and two runs, just one earned, while striking out six to improve to 19-0 on the year. Ames worked the Bucs out of trouble in the 7th for her fourth save of the season.
Game two didn't exactly have the same script as the Bucs jumped ahead on a solo home run from Brennan in the 1st and then poured it on in the 2nd as two run singles from McKinley and Brennan made it 7-0 before back to back RBI singles from Ella Moore and Emily Allegood ballooned the lead to 9-0 at the end of two.
Mia Terito popped a solo home run to center to make it a 10-0 game to begin the FSW 3rd and the Bucs added another run later in the inning to up their lead to 11-0 at the end of 2 1/2.
Bucs starter Emily Allegood breezed through the Manatees order in the 3rd with a 1-2-3 frame and then smacked an RBI double at the plate in the 5th to make it 12-0 Bucs with a half inning left to play.
Bucs reliever Leah Meyer did the rest, finishing off the shutout with a pair of strikeouts in the 5th to give the Bucs a 12-0 run rule win in five.
It was all FSW on the box score as the Bucs outhit the Manatees 15-2 in the contest. Brennan and Allegood combined to go a perfect 7-7 with five RBIs in the win while McKinley had another two hit game at the top of the lineup, scoring twice and driving in two runs. Allegood earned the win in the circle with three no-hit innings to improve to 4-0 on the year while Meyer struck out three in two scoreless frames to close things out.
FSW moves to 41-5 overall on the season with the sweep, marking their eighth straight 40 win season, while improving to 28-4 in Citrus Conference play where they remain tied with Indian River for the top spot in the conference standings. SCF falls to 18-22 overall and 11-19 in league action.
The Bucs return home for four straight games against Top 20 ranked foes starting on Thursday when they host #8 Central Florida at 1 PM at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers.