Posted: May 07, 2022
LONGWOOD, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were stunned in the FCSAA State Tournament Semifinals Saturday night in Longwood, managing just four hits in a 2-0 loss to the Seminole State Raiders to end their dreams of a state title. The Bucs will now have to take the same route to the National Tournament as they did during their 2021 Championship run with three games in less than 24 hours starting Sunday at 1 PM when they take on Suncoast Conference rival St. Petersburg in their first elimination game.
The Bucs had a scoring chance right off the bat in the 1st as Laura Vigna was hit by the first pitch of the game and moved to second on a wild pitch, but back to back strikeouts by the middle of the Bucs order ended the threat and kept it a scoreless game through one inning of play.
FSW's next opportunity to take the lead came in the 3rd as Shenita Tucker singled with two outs and stole both second and third, but a fly out left her stranded and kept the game without a run through two and a half.
Bucs starter Baylee Haggard gave FSW her best effort early on, holding a powerful Seminole lineup without a hit through the first three innings of action to keep the game scoreless.
The Bucs threatened again in the 4th as back to back singles from Taylor Jensen and Charlotte Drijvers put two on with one out, but a baserunning snafu on a fly ball to left cost the Bucs an out and ended the inning, thwarting one of their best scoring chances of the night.
Seminole got their first hit of the game in the 4th to put two on with nobody out and the Raiders came through with the only hit with a runner in scoring position by either team in the game with a line drive double to the gap in left center, scoring both runners to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead after four.
Belle Sardja came in out of the FSW bullpen in the 5th and gave the Bucs a chance, retiring six of the seven hitters she faced, but the FSW offense couldn't muster any sort of attack in the final two innings as they failed to put a runner on in the 6th or 7th innings as the Raiders finished off a 2-0 win to dash the Bucs chances at a State Championship.
The Bucs matched a season low with just four hits in the loss, none for extra bases, while FSW pitching held Seminole to only three hits in the contest. Haggard was saddled with just her second loss of the season, allowing two hits and two runs in four innings of work to fall to 23-2 before giving way to Sardja who threw two scoreless to finish the ballgame.
FSW sees a 23 game win streak snapped as they fall to 46-5 on the year while Seminole scores a huge upset win to reach the state title game as they improve to 43-24 on the year.
The Bucs will now have to work their way back through the South Atlantic District B bracket which they will begin Sunday at 1 PM against Suncoast Conference rival St. Petersburg who they beat five times during the 2022 regular season.
