Posted: Mar 18, 2023
KENDALL, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers roared back from 6-2 down Saturday afternoon with seven unanswered runs for a 9-6 win over the #20 Miami Dade Sharks to clinch their second straight series win to begin Southern Conference play.
The Bucs and Sharks traded zeroes through the first two innings of action before Miami Dade cracked the scoreboard first in a big way with five runs in the bottom of the 3rd to take an early 5-0 lead.
FSW responded in the 4th as Anthony Westbrook remained red hot with an RBI single to center and Nate Earley did the same later in the inning to cut the Miami Dade lead to 5-2 at the end of four.
The Sharks got a solo home run in the 5th to stretch their lead to 6-2.
FSW began their comeback in the 6th as Albert Serrano singled through the hole on the left side to make it a 6-4 game and Sergio Rivera doubled to left with two outs to drive in another run to get the Bucs back to within one at 6-5 at the end of six.
Three straight Bucs singled to load the bases with nobody out in the 7th and Serrano came through again with an RBI single to tie the score at 6. Earley stepped to the plate with the bases still loaded one batter later and smacked one to right to bring home two more to give the Bucs their first lead of the game at 8-6. A safety squeeze from Aries Samek tacked on another run, giving FSW a 9-6 lead at stretch time.
Miami Dade looked like they were going to get right back in it as they put two on with two out in the 7th, but Lucas Hartman got a pop up to end the threat and the inning as FSW continued to lead it by three as the teams went to the 8th.
The Sharks got a leadoff double in the 8th, but Hartman struck out three straight to strand the runner and worked his third straight scoreless inning in the 9th to close it out and give the Bucs a 9-6 win to take the series two games to one.
The Bucs banged out 13 hits in the win with the bulk of the damage being done by the bottom half. Serrano and Earley each had two hits and drove in three while Westbrook notched a three hit game with a 3-5 effort and scored three runs. The FSW bullpen continued to be their backbone as Henry Hardie earned his second win of the season with a scoreless 6th to improve to 2-0 on the year while Hartman picked up a hard earned fourth save of the season with three scoreless frames and three strikeouts to close things out.
FSW wins their second straight Southern Conference series to begin the conference season as they improve to 20-11 overall and 4-2 in league action. Miami Dade falls to 20-9-1 overall and 4-2 in Southern Conference play.
The Bucs will jump out of conference on Monday for a date with A3 Academy at home in Buccaneers Park before returning to Southern Conference play against Eastern Florida on Wednesday in Melbourne.