FORT MYERS, FLA.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers flexed their muscles Thursday night at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, hammering visiting #19 State College of Florida 6-1 and 14-0 in a doubleheader to take a stranglehold on the Suncoast Conference standings with six games to go.
The Bucs wasted little time in taking control of game one as Rebeca Laudino and Lindsey Corbin singled on the first two pitches of the FSW half of the first and moved up on a sacrifice bunt before Owen Bowers drove Laudino in on a sac fly to make it 1-0 Bucs after one.
They used the long ball to add onto their lead in the second as Natavia Ellis singled to begin the frame ahead of a two run shot to right by Pallas Potter to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Three free passes got the Bucs into some trouble in the top of the fourth, the last coming with the bases loaded to give SCF their first run of the game to cut the lead to 3-1.
FSW answered right back though as Laudino crushed a 3-1 pitch off the scoreboard in right for a two run shop, extending the Buccaneer lead to 5-1 after four.
Buc reliever Sarah Lawton picked up a pair of strikeouts in a quick fifth inning and FSW added onto their lead in the bottom of the inning on a solo home run from Paris Woods to make it 6-1.
That was more than enough for Lawton who retired eight of the final nine hitters she faced to finish off a 6-1 win in the opener for the Bucs.
FSW pounded out nine hits, including the three long balls in the win. Laudino was electric at the top of the order as usual, going 3 for 4 with two RBI's and two runs scored. Potter was a perfect 2 for 2, also with two runs scored and two RBI's. Kelsi Collins picked up her 22nd win of the season in the victory, going 3 1/3 innings, allowing just two hits and one run, while Lawton earned her NJCAA leading seventh save of the year, going 3 2/3 shutout innings of relief.
#1 FSW/#19 SCF GAME ONE BOX SCORE
Game two started much different than it would finish. Through 2 ½ innings of action it was a pitcher's duel between FSW's Haley Ellefson and SCF's Ashlee Zientek.
That all changed in the bottom of the third when the Bucs bats woke up. A solo home run on an absolute bullet from Potter got FSW going and Corbin and Madison Johnson picked up RBI singles on back to back pitches moments later to push the lead to 3-0. Later in the inning a groundout from Paris Woods brought home the Bucs fourth run of the inning and Ellis ripped one down the line for an RBI single after that to make it 5-0 FSW after three.
The Bucs were back at it in the fourth and this time they didn't stop at five. They got the scoring in the inning started when Corbin was hit by a pitch for the second time on the day to push home a run and make it 6-0. Two batters later an SCF error allowed the Bucs second run of the inning to score and with the inning extended Elsie Rivera executed a perfect safety squeeze to plate a run and make it 8-0. Ellis smacked her second run scoring single of the game to stretch the lead to 10-0 and two batters later Potter continued her big day with a two run double to make it 12-0. Laudino picked up her sixth hit of the day on an RBI single up the middle to score Potter to make it 13-0 and Corbin singled to left to score one more for FSW to cushion the lead to 14-0 after four.
With the spirits taken out of the Manatees, Haley Ellefson made short work of SCF in the top of the fifth, finishing off her shutout and giving the Bucs a 14-0 run rule win in game two.
The offense for FSW was the story, but Ellefson was equally as good in the circle for the Bucs. She improved to 13-0 on the year, spinning a four hit shutout, her third of the year, while striking out a career high six. The FSW offense backed her with 16 hits, including three each from Potter, Ellis, and Laudino. Potter and Ellis each drove home three while Laudino scored twice and drove in another.
#1 FSW/#19 SCF GAME TWO BOX SCORE
The Bucs move to 47-1 overall and 14-1 in Suncoast Conference play with the victories. They now hold a 1.5 game lead in the conference standings and also have the season tiebreaker on the Manatees. SCF sees their 10 game winning streak come to a screeching halt as they drop to 39-13 overall and 14-4 in Suncoast Conference action.
FSW will be home for the final time this season on Saturday when they host Hillsborough at City of Palms Park. The Bucs and Hawks will get underway at 1 PM with FSW's Sophomore Day festivities happening prior to the first game at approximately 12:45 PM.