Posted: Apr 15, 2022
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Kendry Noriega homered in the 3rd inning to set a new program record with his 13th career long ball and Paul Winland hit a grand slam in an eight run 4th as the #7 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers blew past the State College of Florida Manatees Friday afternoon at City of Palms Park.
The Manatees struck first in the series opener, getting a two out, two run double to the gap in right center in the top of the 1st to take an early 2-0 lead.
Bucs starter Magnus Ellerts locked in from there, punching out the final man he faced in the 1st and then the first two in a 1-2-3 2nd to keep it a 2-0 game after two.
FSW finally cracked the scoreboard with two outs in the bottom of the 3rd when Kendry Noriega unloaded on his eighth home run of the year and 13th of his Buccaneer career, passing Christian Lucio on the all-time list and making him FSW's new home run king while cutting the SCF lead in half to 2-1.
Ellerts continued attacking the Manatees in the 4th, putting up his third straight goose egg to keep it a 2-1 game.
The game turned in the bottom of the 4th as the Bucs loaded the bases with nobody out before Ronny Medina walked to force home a run to tie the game at 2. One batter later Paul Winland changed the game with one swing, crushing a grand slam deep and out to right center to put FSW in front 6-2. The merry go round didn't stop there as Kalvin Alexander doubled and then scored on a Manatee error to make it 7-2 and an RBI triple from Satchell Norman upped the lead to 8-2, still with nobody out in the inning. Later in the frame Jose Izarra lifted a sacrifice fly to right to bring home Norman, breaking the FSW single season record with his 49th RBI of the year and giving the Bucs a 9-2 lead after four.
A controversial moment happened in the top of the 5th when the Manatees hit what was originally called a two run home run which would have cut it to a 9-4 game, but after discussion the call was overturned into a ground rule double and both runners were stranded at inning's end sending the SCF dugout into a fury and keeping the Bucs in front 9-2 at the midway point of the contest.
The Bucs offense went quiet over the next three innings, but it didn't matter as Brian Holiday came out of the FSW bullpen and kept the Manatees at bay, retiring the first six hitters he faced to keep it a 9-2 game to stretch time.
FSW added a run in the bottom of the 7th when Noriega ripped an RBI double to the gap to make it 10-2 and that's the way it finished as Holiday blanked the Manatees in the final two innings with a little help from his defense to finish off a dominating 10-2 win for the Bucs.
The Bucs outhit the Manatees 12-5 in the win, with Noriega going 3-5 with a single, a double, a homer, and two RBIs at the top of the lineup while Alexander and Paxton Tomaini each added a pair of hits for FSW.
Ellerts and Holiday were in complete control on the mound for FSW as Ellerts went five innings and allowed just four hits and two runs while striking out eight to improve to 8-0 on the year before Holiday came in and faced the minimum in his four innings of work, striking out three for his fourth save of the season.
The Bucs improve to 34-13 overall and 19-3 in Suncoast Conference action where they hold a 4 1/2 game lead over second place Polk State with just six games left to go. The loss is a blow to the Manatees who fall to 27-20 overall and 12-10 in league play where they now sit 2 1/2 games back of Polk for the final playoff spot from the Suncoast Conference.
FSW and SCF will go at it again Saturday in Bradenton in game two of the series with first pitch scheduled for 1 PM.