Posted: Apr 16, 2022
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers extended their Suncoast Conference winning streak to 52 games Saturday afternoon at City of Palms Park in Downtown Fort Myers, hammering the visiting Hillsborough Hawks 2-0 and 9-1 in a doubleheader to improve to 41-4 on the year.
It was a pitcher's duel early on in game one between FSW's Baylee Haggard and Hillsborough's Marisa Mellone who traded zeros through the first three innings to keep the game scoreless to the 4th.
Hillsborough had a chance to get on the board first in the top of the 4th as Haggard walked the leadoff hitter and hit the next batter, but she worked her way out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a nifty defensive play to keep it a 0-0 contest.
The Bucs rolled the momentum into their offensive half of the inning as Caroline Figueroa doubled to lead off the frame and McKenzie Wittenberg drove home pinch runner Camille Graham to put FSW in front 1-0. Later in the inning Sterre den Duijn brought Wittenberg plateward with a sacrifice fly to up the Bucs lead to 2-0 at the end of four.
The Bucs wouldn't score again, but they didn't to as Haggard put up three more goose eggs to finish things off, closing the game out in style with a strikeout to finish off her sixth shutout of the year as FSW took game one 2-0.
There were just 11 hits in the contest, six for FSW and five for Hillsborough. Shenita Tucker had two hits and a pair of stolen bases while Wittenberg was 1-3 and accounted for both Buccaneer runs with an RBI and a run scored.
Haggard was spectacular in the circle once again for the Bucs, going the distance in a five hit shutout, striking out four to win her NJCAA best 20th game of the season.
Game two was a completely different game and that was evident right off the bat. Hillsborough came out swinging, taking advantage of an FSW error to score their first and only run of the day to take an early 1-0 lead in the 1st.
The Bucs answered right back as lefties Laura Vigna and Shenita Tucker lined singles to begin the FSW half of the 1st and later scored on a wild pitch and an RBI single from Wittenberg to give the Bucs their first lead of the game at 2-1. They weren't done there as they took a 3-1 lead on a Hawk error and a bases loaded walk to Carys Platt forced home a run and made it a 4-1 game. With the bases still loaded, den Duijn ripped a single to left to plate two more and make it a 6-1 game in favor of the Bucs after one inning of action.
FSW starter Samantha Smith kept the Hawks off the board in the 2nd and 3rd and reliever Kylee Graham put up a donut in the 4th to keep it a 6-1 game.
Vigna singled and stole second before moving up to third on a Hillsborough error to begin the FSW 4th and trotted home on a groundout from Tucker to make it 7-1.
The Bucs loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the 5th and their conference RBI leader Sterre den Duijn stepped to the plate and delivered once again, lining a single through a drawn in infield to bring home two and kick in the run rule with FSW taking game two 9-1.
FSW outhit Hillsborough 10-3 in the win and was led by den Duijn who finished 2-4 with four RBIs and Wittenberg who was a perfect 3-3 with a pair of runs scored. Smith earned the win to improve to 6-0 on the year in the circle, going three innings and allowing just three hits and one unearned run while Graham finished things off with two scoreless frames allowing just a single baserunner.
The Bucs extend their win streak to 18 games while collecting wins number 40 and 41 on the season as they improve to 41-4 overall and remain perfect in Suncoast Conference play at 16-0 where they have now outscored their opponents 131-21 this season. Hillsborough's slim postseason hopes were dashed with the sweep as they drop to 14-30 overall and 3-13 in conference play where they have officially been eliminated from playoff contention.
FSW will look to keep things rolling on Tuesday when they travel to Bradenton to take on State College of Florida in another Suncoast Conference doubleheader under the lights at 5 PM.
