FORT MYERS, FLA.- Florida SouthWestern State sophomore Sarah Lawton was flawless on Thursday, throwing the first perfect game in Buccaneer history, retiring all 15 batters she saw in an 8-0 run rule victory over Polk State at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers.
After a 1-2-3 top half of the first from Lawton, the Bucs gave her a lead in the bottom half of the inning as Rebeca Laudino led off with a bunt single and came around to score on a double from Madison Johnson to put FSW up 1-0.
Lawton needed just 10 pitches in the second to blow through the middle of the Eagle lineup and then just nine in the third to get the final three in the order to keep the Bucs in front 1-0 after 2 ½.
FSW opened things up in the bottom half of the third as a pair of errors and a two run bomb from Owen Bowers pushed the lead to 5-0.
Lawton continued her mastery of the Eagles in the fourth as she induced a pair of groundouts to Laudino at second around her third strikeout of the game to keep Polk off the board and Bucs up 5-0.
Alison Yawn singled home a run for FSW in the bottom of the fourth and Johnson plated two on a two out single later in the inning to stretch the Bucs advantage to 8-0.
Lawton did the rest, getting another strikeout and two ground balls on the infield to finish off not only her shutout, but also a no-hitter and a perfect game in the 8-0 victory.
It was 15 up and 15 down against Lawton in the contest as she spun the first perfect game in FSW Softball history. She struck out four and needed just 54 pitches to accomplish the historical feat. The Bucs backed her with nine hits and eight runs, getting a perfect 3 for 3 day at the plate from Johnson who also drove home three, and Bowers who cranked her 15th home run of the season while driving in two more runs to give her 14 in the past four games for the Bucs.
FSW improves to 42-1 on the year with the victory while pushing their Suncoast Conference mark to 9-1 where they now hold a game and a half lead over second place State College of Florida. Polk State falls to 16-23 overall and 3-7 in league action.
The Bucs will have the weekend off before returning to action next Tuesday on the road at St. Petersburg. The Bucs and Titans are scheduled for a 5 PM first pitch in Clearwater.