DOTHAN, ALA.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers moved to 11-0 on the year with a pair of quality wins Friday afternoon at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. FSW opened the day with a 12-4 run rule win over #14 Salt Lake and followed it up with a 12-5 win over Gulf Coast State who was ranked fourth in this week's FCSAA poll.
It was a top 15 NJCAA matchup in the Bucs first game of the tournament as they squared off against #14 Salt Lake. The Bucs wasted little time jumping on the Bruins, getting an RBI double from Owen Bowers in the second to take a 1-0 lead and a three run bomb from Natavia Ellis in the third to push their lead to 4-0.
FSW blew the game wide open in the fourth when Madison Johnson made it an 8-0 game, hitting a bullet over the center field wall for a grand slam, her third home run of the season.
Salt Lake finally found some offense in the bottom of the fourth, opening the inning with five consecutive hits, scoring four times to cut the Bucs lead in half at 8-4.
FSW got those runs right back in the top of the fifth as Lindsey Corbin ripped a double to score two, Johnson singled to score her, and Shanika Klett singled Johnson home to push the lead back to eight at 12-4.
With the run rule hanging over the Bruins heads, they put two on in the bottom of the fifth, but a groundout ended the threat as the Bucs finished them off 12-4 in five.
FSW pounded out 15 hits in the win, getting at least one hit from eight of the nine starters in the contest. Johnson finished 3 for 5 with three runs scored and five RBI's for FSW while Ellis was 2 for 4 with three RBI's to power the offense. Haley Ellefson earned the win, improving to 3-0 on the year as she went three innings, allowing four runs on eight hits before Sarah Lawton closed things out with a pair of scoreless frames.
#3 FSW/#14 SALT LAKE BOX SCORE
Next up for the Bucs was a Region VIII battle with Gulf Coast State. Again FSW got on the board right away, plating a pair in the second inning on a Gulf Coast error and an RBI single from Elsie Rivera to take an early 2-0 lead.
The Bucs made it a 4-0 game in the third when Ellis singled up the middle to score two more.
The Commodores got on the board in the third as they strung together three straight two out hits to cut the FSW lead in half at 4-2.
A sacrifice fly from Rebeca Laudino and a two out RBI single from Johnson got the two runs back for the Bucs to make it a 6-2 game and in the fifth Laudino all but put the game away with a bases clearing triple to push the lead to 9-2.
An FSW error allowed Gulf Coast to get something going on the bottom of the sixth and later in the inning they would score three times to once again make a game of it at 9-5 heading into the last inning.
The Bucs made it no question that this was their game in their next at bats as Pallas Potter doubled to score their tenth run of the game and a Commodore error allowed two more runs to score to make it a 12-5 contest.
That is the way that it would end as Kelsi Collins stranded a pair in the bottom of the seventh to seal up the 12-5 win for FSW.
FSW outhit Gulf Coast 12-8 on the afternoon and took advantage of three Commodore errors. Ellis, Rivera, and Paris Woods all finished with multiple hit games for FSW while Laudino provided the muscle from the leadoff spot with a career high five RBI's. Collins earned her fifth win of the season, going the distance while yielding eight hits and two earned runs and striking out nine.
#3 FSW/GULF COAST STATE BOX SCORE
The Bucs improve to 11-0 with the wins, marking their best start in program history. They will take the diamond again Saturday morning when they take on Snead State and Northwest Florida State at 9 and 11.