BRADENTON, Fla.- The #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers only had two multi-run innings Tuesday in their Suncoast Conference doubleheader with the State College of Florida, but they were big ones, scoring seven in the 6th inning of game one and four in the 7th inning of game two to come away with a 10-2, 7-6 sweep of the Manatees to improve to a perfect 5-0 in conference play.  

 

The Bucs had the first good scoring chance of game one as they loaded the bases with one out in the 2nd, but a groundout and a fly out ended the threat and kept the game scoreless after two.  

 

The wheels of Rebeca Laudino got the Bucs on the board in the 3rd as the sophomore star legged out a bunt single, stole second, and moved up to third on a ground ball before scoring on a wild pitch to give FSW a 1-0 lead.  

 

The Bucs doubled their lead on the first pitch of the 4th as Eliska Stejkalova cranked her first career home run out to left field to make it 2-0 FSW.  

 

FSW was their own worst enemies in the bottom of the 4th as a pair of hit batters and a Buccaneer error allowed the Manatees to get on the board and cut the Bucs lead in half at 2-1.  

 

A successful double steal in the 5th got the run back for the Bucs, but State College of Florida answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the frame to keep it a one run game at 3-2. 

 

It was DeJa'Vu for the Bucs in the 6th as Stejkalova smashed her second home run of the game to nearly the same spot as her first to make it a 4-2 game.  Two batters later a double from Feline Poot added another run for the Bucs and back to back RBI doubles from Taylor Jensen and Shanika Klett opened it up to an 8-2 game.  A two run shot from Natavia Ellis blew the game wide open, giving FSW a 10-2 lead at the end of 5 1/2. 

 

Shocked, the Manatees went down quietly in the bottom of the 6th and after going into the inning in a one run game, the Bucs came out of it run rule winners 10-2.  

 

Stejkalova had the best game of her young career, finishing 2-3 with two home runs for the Bucs.  Five other Bucs finished with two hits each in the win including Ellis who was 2-3 with a home run and two RBIs.  Alyssa O'Donnell was the winner in the circle for the Bucs, going 4 1/3 and allowing three hits and two runs to improve to 12-1 on the year while Sarah Clontz earned her first save of the season with 1 2/3 scoreless innings to close things out.  

 

 

The Bucs jumped on the Manatees right off the bat in game two as Jensen drove home a run in the top of the 1st with a groundout to give FSW a quick 1-0 lead.  

 

Jensen drove home another run in the 3rd, this one a little louder, on a no doubter home run to left center field to double the Bucs lead to 2-0. 

 

A key FSW error in the bottom of the 3rd allowed State College of Florida to get something going and back to back hits for the Manatees tied the game at 2-2.  

 

State College of Florida took their first lead of the day in the 4th, using another FSW defensive miscue to push a run across and make it 3-2. 

 

Laudino picked up her fourth hit of the day with a one out single in the 5th and stole second to put herself in scoring position in front of Klett who ripped a single to right field with two outs to tie the score at 3. 

 

Both teams missed chances to take the lead in the next two innings as the contest sailed to the 7th still tied at 3. 

 

A two run single up the middle from Ellis broke the tie in the 7th and gave the Bucs a 5-3 lead while later in the inning an RBI double to the center field wall from Chelsea Brown pushed the Bucs lead to 6-3.  A sacrifice fly from Stejkalova added an insurance run for the Bucs to make it 7-3 as they went to the bottom of the 7th. 

 

The game looked like it was over without much drama in the Manatees final at bats, but a two out error for the Bucs on a play that would have ended it, turned into an SCF run and kept the game going. A single to left scored two more and just like that it was once again a one run game at 7-6. A walk put runners on the corners with two outs when FSW ace Alyssa O'Donnell emerged out of the Bucs bullpen to record the final out via strikeout and end the Manatees threat to give the Bucs the 7-6 victory to finish off the sweep.  

 

The Bucs outhit the Manatees 13-4 in the game, but three FSW errors let in four unearned SCF runs in the contest to make it interesting.  Ellis was 2-4 with two RBIs for the second straight game while Laudino had two hits and two stolen bases for FSW.  Clontz earned the win to improve to 4-0 on the year, allowing two hits and three runs, all unearned, in 2 2/3 innings of work out of the Bucs bullpen while O'Donnell notched a one out save, her first of the year to close things out.  

 

 

The 2nd ranked Bucs improve to 24-3 overall and remain unbeaten in conference play at 5-0 while State College of Florida drops to 8-12 overall and 1-4 in league action. 

 

The Bucs are back in action on Thursday when they return home to take on Polk State in a Suncoast Conference twinbill beginning at 5 PM at City of Palms Park.