FORT MYERS, Fla.- A pair of late lapses cost the #5 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers two games Saturday afternoon at home against Eastern Florida at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers as FSW allowed five runs with two outs in the 9^th of game one to lose 11-8 and gave up three in the 8^th in game two to fall 5-2 to drop the Citrus Conference series to the Titans. 

 

Things looked good early on for the Bucs in game one as after Eastern Florida scored a 3^rd inning run for the first run of the game, FSW answered with four in the bottom of the inning as Brock Knoerr lined a single the other way to drive home a run and tie it before Jake Mueller unloaded on a three run shot later in the frame to put the Bucs up 4-1 at the end of three. 

 

The Bucs hurt themselves in the 5^th as a pair of walks to start the inning both turned into runs before a sacrifice fly later in the inning tied the score at 4 after 4 1/2. 

 

The Bucs answered in the bottom of the inning as Mueller walked with two outs to keep the inning alive and Carlos Sanchez cashed the freebie with a two run homer to dead center to put the Bucs back on top 6-4. One pitch later Nik Pereira followed suit with a solo shot of his own to make it 7-4 FSW at the end of five. 

 

Eastern got a two run home run of their own in the 6^th to trim the Bucs lead to one,  but a safety squeeze from Knoerr in the bottom of the inning got one back for FSW and made it 8-6 Bucs as the teams went to the 7^th.

 

A pair of walks put the tying runs on for Eastern in the 7^th but the Bucs were within one strike of finishing things off when another free pass loaded the bases. A single to left scored two to tie the game at 8 and a three run home run gave the Titans an 11-8 lead in the blink of an eye. 

 

Eastern Florida tried to return the favor in the Bucs final at bat, walking two of their own to bring the tying run to the plate, but unlike Eastern earlier in the inning, the Bucs couldn't come through with the big hit as a groundout ended the threat and the game as FSW fell 11-8 in game one. 

 

Mueller led the Bucs offense with a 2-3 effort with a double, a homer, and three RBIs while Devin Parks recorded his fourth straight multi-hit game, going 2-4 with a pair of runs scored. Josiah Velazquez took the loss on the mound, snapping a streak of five straight scoreless appearances, allowing three runs on two hits in just 1/3 of an inning to fall to 1-1 on the year. 

 

 

In game two the Bucs struggles with the strike zone continued as three 1^st inning walks and a two out single turned into a run to give Eastern Florida an early 1-0 lead. 

 

Eastern doubled their lead on a solo home run to lead off the 3^rd and the Bucs banged into double plays to kill rallies in three of the first four innings to keep it a 2-0 game at the end of four. 

 

The Bucs finally cracked the scoreboard in the 5^th as Nathan Fink smoked a double the other way and Parks lifted a sac fly to drive home a run to cut the Titans lead in half to 2-1 after five. 

 

The Bucs bullpen kept it there and allowed the offense to tie things up in the bottom of the 7^th as Pereira ripped a single through the left side to make it a 2-2 game. FSW loaded the bases with two outs for the top of their order, but a fly out ended the threat and kept it a 2-2 game at the end of seven complete. 

 

With two on and two outs in the top of the 8^th the Bucs got a ground ball and thought they were going to get out of the inning but they couldn't make the play and Eastern scored a pair to retake the lead 4-2. After a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases, another free pass forced a run home and allowed the Titans to extend the lead to 5-2. 

 

The Bucs loaded the bases for the second straight inning in the 8^th but once again a fly ball brought the inning to a close with three ducks left on the pond for the Purple and Aqua. 

 

FSW brought the tying run to the on deck circle in the 9th, but that's as close as they would get as Eastern finished them off to seal a 5-2 win to sweep the doubleheader and win the series two games to one. 

 

Each side had six hits in the contest, but FSW pitching walked eight and hit two which turned out to be the difference. Pereira and Parks had two hits a piece for FSW in the loss. Parker Burgess started and went five innings for FSW, allowing three hits and two runs while tying a career high with eight strikeouts. Robert Mitchell suffered the loss, allowing three hits and three runs in two innings pitched to fall to 0-2 on the year. 

 

 

The Bucs fall to 25-9 on the year with the losses while dropping back to the pack in the Citrus Conference standings at 11-7. Eastern Florida improves to 20-13 overall and 9-9 in league play. 

 

The Bucs will be back in action on Thursday and Friday at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers when they host the Daytona State Falcons for a three game series with game one slated for Thursday at 3.