Posted: Apr 02, 2023
FORT PIERCE, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers ruined dedication day at the newly named Mike Eason Field at Indian River State College on Saturday, pounding out 11 hits and 11 runs in an 11-10 win over the Pioneers to clinch their fourth straight Southern Conference series victory and remain in first place in the league standings at 8-4 with nine games left to go.
The Bucs got on the board early and often as Albert Serrano lifted a solo shot up and out the other way in the 2nd to give FSW a quick 1-0 lead and two batters later Nate Earley knocked in a run with a double to double the lead to 2-0.
FSW added to their lead with a run in the 3rd to make it 3-0 Bucs after 2 1/2.
Indian River cracked the scoreboard for the first time with a solo home run in the 3rd to make it 3-1.
The Bucs opened things up in the 5th as AJ Shaver doubled off the wall in center to drive home a run and they added another on a groundout to make it 5-1. Later in the inning Derek Williams drilled a double to the gap to bring Shaver home to stretch it to a 6-1 game in favor of the Bucs midway through.
FSW let the Pioneers back into things in the bottom of the inning with back to back two out errors that allowed a pair of runs to score and draw Indian River back to within three at 6-3.
Reyn Watson threw a big 1-2-3 bottom of the 6th for FSW and the Bucs tacked onto their lead in the 7th as Joel Gardner drove home a run with a single and Shaver scored another on a wild pitch to make it 8-3 at stretch time.
Indian River wouldn't go away, scoring three more times in the bottom of the 7th to get back to within striking distance at 8-6 as the teams went to the 8th.
The Bucs added some much needed insurance in the top of the 9th as Shaver homered for the second straight game to lead off the inning and later in the frame Aries Samek tripled home two more to cushion the lead to 11-6.
The Bucs shot themselves in the foot as they tried to close things out in the 9th as a pair of walks and an error that should have ended the ballgame kept things alive for the Pioneers and they took advantage in a major way with a grand slam to get them back to within one on just one swing of the bat at 11-10. The Bucs limited the damage to that, finally capturing the 27th out on a fly out to center to finish off an 11-10 win to take the series 2-1.
Four Bucs had multi-hit games for FSW including Shaver who finished a big week with a 2-3 effort with a homer, a double, and four runs scored. Serrano had two hits and two runs scored and Samek had a pair of knocks and two runs driven home. Isaac Upole went five innings, allowing just one earned run to improve to 4-1 on the year. Lucas Hartman saw a streak of 25 consecutive scoreless innings out of the Bucs bullpen come to an end, but he managed to work around the bump in the road to earn his sixth save of the season.
FSW improves to 26-13 overall and 8-4 in Southern Conference play where they remain tied with Miami Dade atop the standings while Indian River falls to 20-14 overall and drops three games, plus the tiebreaker back from the Bucs at 5-7 in league action.
The Bucs will jump out of conference quickly on Monday when they travel to Bradenton to take on State College of Florida in a 5 PM first pitch against their old Suncoast Conference rivals.