FORT MYERS, FLA.- The 2018-19 athletic season was a historic one for the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers. The Bucs four squads each captured Suncoast Conference Championships and advanced to the FCSAA State Tournament, the only school in Florida to boast that, while FSW teams combined for a .865 overall winning percentage, easily the top mark in the Sunshine State and likely the highest nationwide.
The Bucs' .865 winning percentage in 18-19 was 65 points higher than the next closest school in Chipola, and nearly 150 points more than the next group of contenders in Seminole State, Northwest Florida, and Central Florida. While it is not kept as an official NJCAA statistic, it is thought that FSW's .865 mark is not only the highest in the state of Florida, but also the highest in the country this season. While supporting just two sports, Wallace-Dothan notched an .850 mark this season and Texas' Tyler JC was at .799.
2018-19 FCSAA WINNING PERCENTAGES
- FSW- .865
- Chipola- .800
- Seminole State- .723
- Northwest Florida State- .716
- Central Florida- .693
- Miami Dade- .619
- Daytona State- .617
- Santa Fe- .611
- Gulf Coast State- .604
- Pasco-Hernando- .589
- State College of Florida- .582
- Eastern Florida State- .578
- Tallahassee- .576
- St. Johns River- .540
- Indian River State- .505
- Broward- .505
- Hillsborough- .495
- St. Petersburg- .489
- Pensacola State- .486
- Polk State- .486
- Lake Sumter State- .481
- ASA Miami- .473
- South Florida State- .424
- Florida Gateway- .393
- Palm Beach State- .385
- Florida State College at Jacksonville- .324
FSW's success in the Suncoast Conference is well documented as Buccaneer teams have won seven of the past eight conference titles over the past two seasons including all four in 2019 with a combined conference record of 61-10. With the FSW Baseball team qualifying for the State Tournament for the first time in 2019, all four programs competed in the FCSAA Championships, making the Bucs the only team in the state to do so. At the national level, each FSW squad was ranked inside the top 10 of the NJCAA rankings at some point in time this season, making them unique in that regard as well.
The Bucs Women's Basketball team set a school record with 30 wins this season, ripping off a 25 straight wins after a 4-2 start. They finished a perfect 9-0 to claim their second straight Suncoast Conference crown and earned their first bid to the NJCAA National Tournament where they won their first contest before playing #1 Wabash Valley to the horn in a 81-78 defeat to finish 9th. Five players were named All-Conference including Tina Stephens who was named the Suncoast Conference Player of the Year and went on to be named a 1st Team NJCAA All-American. Four FSW sophomores have signed to move on to the next level including Stephens (Kansas) and Tonysha Curry (Stetson) to Division I programs.
The FSW Men's Baskeball team put together a similar resume in 2018-19, going 30-3 overall to match the program record for wins in a season. The Bucs went 12-0 in Suncoast Conference action to win their second consecutive league title and won a game at the NJCAA National Tournament for the second straight year before falling in overtime of the quarterfinals by one to finish 5th at the Big Dance. With their lone loss of the regular season coming to then #1 Northwest Florida State, the Bucs held the #1 spot in the national poll for the final six weeks of the regular season, also a program first. The Bucs seven players named to the All-Suncoast Conference teams including Charles Manning Jr. who was the Player of the Year and a Second Team All-American. Five sophomores off the team have signed Division I scholarships including Manning Jr. (LSU), Maddox Daniels (Colorado), DeShawn Thomas (Winthrop), Tyler Morman (Wyoming), and Destin Barnes (Jacksonville).
The Bucs Baseball team had a breakout season in 2019, going from a team that hadn't broke the .500 mark in their first three seasons of existence, to one that won 40 games this year. The Bucs caught the nation by storm early on, winning their first 11 games of the season, including a 3-0 stretch against the two teams that played for a National Championship in 2018 in Chipola and Walters State. They went on to claim their first Suncoast Conference Championship with a 21-9 league mark and qualified for the FCSAA State Tournament for the first time where they lost a pair of close contests. After failing to be ranked in their first three seasons, the Bucs spent the entire regular season in the NJCAA top 20 including a program high #4 mark midseason. Sophomore pitcher Ryan Gusto was the marquee name on the roster as he was named the Suncoast Conference and FCSAA State Pitcher of the Year in 2019. So far six FSW sophomores have signed Division I Letters of Intent including Gusto (Western Kentucky), Mitch Myers (Pittsburgh), Connor Bagnieski (Chicago State), Shamir Morales (Bethune-Cookman), and Thomas Haggerty & Joey Mugavero (Florida Atlantic).
The FSW Softball team had another historic year in 2019. The Bucs finished the season 54-3 while winning their fourth straight Suncoast Conference Championship with a 20-1 record. They started the season 33-0 and spent all 10 weeks of the regular season as the #1 ranked team in the country. Standout performances were plentiful for the Bucs, but rising to the top was freshman Rebeca Laudino who made college softball history with a 49 game hitting streak to begin the year, the longest such stretch at any level of the sport in recorded history. The Bucs also got their first perfect game on the mound in program history when Sarah Lawton twirled the gem which also earned her National Pitcher of the Week recognition, one of six weekly national awards the Bucs hauled in in 2019. Laudino was named the Suncoast Player of the Year and Kelsi Collins the Pitcher of the Year, the two were joined by four other Bucs on the FCSAA All-State Teams.
The Bucs will add another team to the fold in August when Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen leads the first FSW Volleyball team to the floor in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.