CLEARWATER, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers cruised to a pair of victories at the Juco Kick Off Classic in Clearwater on Saturday, first downing #11 Pensacola 6-2 in a rematch of last season's Southeast District B semifinal matchup, before thumping Seminole State, the team that ended the Bucs State Championship hopes last year 11-5 in their second game of the day.
It was an early wakeup call for the Bucs in game one as they squared off with #11 Pensacola in an 8:30 AM first pitch. They didn't need any time to get going though as Shenita Tucker and Sydney McCray picked up back to back hits to begin the game and after a Pensacola error got the Bucs on the board, Feline Poot cashed two more in with a shot to left to put the Bucs in front 3-0 after one.
Drawing her first career start, Lea Chevrier worked quick 1-2-3 frames in the 2nd and 3rd for the Bucs and her offense rewarded her with two more runs in the bottom of the 3rd when Ella Moore lifted a sac fly right to plate one run before a Pirate error allowed another run to score to make it 5-0.
Pensacola cracked the scoreboard for the first time in the 4th, but Chevrier limited the damage to one after having the bases loaded and nobody out to keep it a 5-1 game.
The Bucs quickly got the run back in the bottom of the frame as Sietske Drijvers reached on a two out error and scored on an RBI double from Tucker to make it 6-1 Bucs.
It remained a 6-1 game to the 7th when Pensacola made one last push, loading the bases with one out and pushing a run across before Belle Sardja came in out of the Bucs bullpen to put out the fire and seal up a 6-2 win for FSW over the Pirates.
Tucker finished a perfect 3-3 at the top of the lineup, scoring two runs and driving in another while Poot was 1-2 with her 1st inning homer and two RBIs. Chevrier earned her first career win, going 6 1/3 innings and scattering eight hits and two runs while striking out six before giving way to Sardja who earned the save by retiring both hitters she faced to close things out.
#1 FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN/#11 PENSACOLA STATE BOX SCORE
In their second game of the day, the Bucs took on the team that ended their State Tournament run and the team that they came back to beat to advance to the National Tournament a season ago, Seminole State.
The Bucs jumped on the Raiders right away as Drijvers and Samantha Smith reached base in front of a three run home run from Maddy Golka in the 2nd to give FSW an early 3-0 lead.
FSW continued their attack in the 3rd as Feline Poot tripled home a run and then scored on an RBI single from Drijvers to make it 5-0 before a fielder's choice on the bases plated the Bucs third run of the inning to make it 6-0 Bucs at the end of three.
The Raiders got a two out double in the 4th to get on the board for the first time and continued chipping away with two more in the 5th to cut the Bucs lead to 6-4.
Poot's second triple of the game set the Bucs up in the bottom of the 5th and she scored on an RBIs ingle from Drijvers to make it 7-4.
Seminole picked up their fifth run of the game on a squibber in front of the circle in the 6th to make it a two run game once again at 7-5, but the Bucs put the game away in the bottom of the frame as Samantha Smith crushed a three run home run to cap a four run inning for FSW to put the Bucs up 11-5 which is where it would end as FSW closed the Raiders out in the 7th for their second win of the morning.
The Bucs banged out 11 hits in the win with four different players registering multi-hit contests. Smith led the way with a 2-3 effort which included a double, a home run, and three RBIs. Drijvers also had two hits while also scoring and driving in two. Kylee Graham earned the win out of the FSW bullpen, going 2/3 of an inning to improve to 2-0 on the year while Belle Sardja notched her second save of the year with 2 2/3 innings out work without allowing an earned run.
#1 FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN/SEMINOLE STATE BOX SCORE
The Bucs finish opening weekend 3-1 with three victories over teams expected to be in Orlando for the State Tournament later this season.
The Bucs are in action at home for the first time this season on Monday when they host Florida National at 1:00 to christen their brand new on-campus field. Admission is free and fans are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs as seating is extremely limited this season.