AVON PARK, FLA.- All the Florida SouthWestern State softball program has ever known is championships and that continued on Tuesday as the Buccaneers clinched their fourth Suncoast Conference title in four seasons of existence with a pair of shutout wins over South Florida State.
The Bucs struck first in the opener, getting back to back RBI groundouts in the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead.
They extended their lead to 4-0 in the fourth as Paris Woods doubled home one and then scored herself three pitches later after a stolen base and a Panther throwing error.
FSW lefty Haley Ellefson kept the Bucs right there with a 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth and the Bucs blew it open from there.
FSW exploded for seven runs in the top half of the fifth inning, their first two coming on South Florida errors and the big blow coming on a three run bomb from Woods to make it 10-0. Later in the inning Kayla Domon added an insurance run on an infield RBI single and at the end of 4 ½, the Bucs led it 11-0.
Ellefson had little trouble finishing things off in the bottom of the fifth, mixing up how she got her three outs, using a strikeout, a ground out, and a pop out to close out the inning and hence the game in an 11-0 run rule victory for the Bucs.
Ellefson needed just 67 pitches for a two hit shutout, her third of the year, while Woods provided the bulk of the offense for the Bucs, going 3 for 3, finishing just a triple short of the cycle with a single, a double, a home run, and four RBI's in the win.
#1 FSW/SOUTH FLORIDA STATE GAME ONE BOX SCORE
Game two was a little bit closer than expected between the now Suncoast Conference Champion Bucs and the last place Panthers.
FSW cracked the scoreboard first on an RBI single from Alison Yawn in the second and then plated another in the top of the fourth when Elsie Rivera ripped a two out RBI single to push the lead to 2-0.
That is the way it stayed the rest of the way as FSW's Kelsi Collins kept South Florida in check in the circle and the Panthers did the same against the Bucs potent lineup.
South Florida brought the tying run to the plate twice in their last at bats in the seventh as they managed their first hit of the game, but Collins stood tall, finishing off her shutout by inducing a pair of groundballs to close things out in a 2-0 FSW victory.
The game featured just six hits, five for FSW and one for South Florida. Collins limited the Panthers to just one hit, coming with one out in the seventh, while striking out three in her seventh shutout of the year to improve to 23-0 in the circle. Five different Bucs split up their five hits with Rivera and Yawn notching the lone RBI's in the win.
#1 FSW/SOUTH FLORIDA STATE GAME TWO BOX SCORE
FSW earns their 50th and 51st wins of the season in the sweep, improving to 51-1 overall on the year. They lock up their fourth straight Suncoast Conference Championship with the wins, moving to 18-1 in league play with one game left to go. South Florida falls to 24-24 overall and finishing their conference season at 4-16.
The Bucs will wrap up their conference season on Thursday at 4:30 in Winter Haven where they will take on Polk State in a makeup game of last Tuesday's rainout.