PALATKA, Fla.- While the eyes of the sports world was on the Super Bowl on Sunday, the #4 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were tangling with the #8 Florence Darlington Tech Stingers in an NJCAA Top 10 battle for the second straight day. A pair of three run innings in the middle of the game and six shutout innings from the FSW bullpen led the Bucs to an 8-1 victory for their 10th consecutive win to improve to 10-1 on the year. 

 

The Bucs worked out of a 1^st inning bases loaded jam on the defensive side in the top half of the inning and scored the game's first run in the bottom half as Jonah St. Antoine doubled with one out and came home on an RBI single from Carlos Sanchez to put the Bucs up 1-0 after one. 

 

Florence Darlington took advantage of a leadoff walk in the 2^nd to score the equalizer and it remained a 1-1 game through three. 

 

In the 4^th the Bucs regained the lead as Nathan Fink hit a two run home run to dead center field to break the tie and put FSW back in front 3-1. Later in the inning Ty Hamilton lined a single back up the box to drive home another run to extend the Bucs lead to 4-1. 

 

FSW reliever Josiah Velazquez worked a quick 1-2-3 top of the 5^th and the Bucs offense was right back at it in the bottom of the inning, this time getting a two run single from Fink and a dropped third strike to score another run to double the lead to 7-1 after five. 

 

It remained a 7-1 game through stretch time and the Bucs added an insurance run in the 8^th as Luke Orfi and Michael McAloose banged back to back doubles to begin the frame and make it an 8-1 game as the contest entered the final inning. 

 

Bucs reliever Robert Mitchell finished the game in style, picking up a pair of strikeouts to close things out and give FSW their 10^th straight victory with an 8-1 win. 

 

The Bucs outhit the Stingers 14-4 in the win. Five different players finished with multiple hits for the Bucs in the win led by Fink who went 2-3 with a homer and four RBIs.  Velazquez and Mitchell combined for six shutout innings of work out of the FSW bullpen,  allowing just three hits while striking out seven. Velazquez earned his first win of the year in the victory. 

 

FSW wins their 10^th straight, tied for the third longest winning streak in program history, to improve to 10-1 on the year while Florence Darlington falls to 4-5. 

 

The Bucs return to the field on Thursday in their 2025 Citrus Conference opener when they take on St. Petersburg in a 2 PM first pitch from Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers.