Posted: Mar 29, 2023
MELBOURNE, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers swept a Southern Conference doubleheader from the Eastern Florida State Titans Wednesday afternoon, taking game one 3-1 behind a home run from Sydney McCray and a complete game in the circle from Belle Sardja, before hammering Eastern in game two 11-1 with a bevy of extra base hits to run their win streak to 24 games.
The Bucs fell behind early in game one as Eastern scratched out a 1st inning run to take a quick 1-0 lead.
It took until the 3rd for the Bucs to respond as they mounted a two out rally with an RBI single up the middle from Carys Platt to tie it at one before Sydney McCray unloaded on a two run bomb to right center to put the Bucs in front 3-1.
Bucs pitcher Belle Sardja took it from there, putting up zeroes in the 3rd and 4th before her battery mate Sietske Drijvers helped her out, gunning down a runner at second to end the 5th to keep it a 3-1 game.
The Bucs couldn't extend upon their lead, but they didn't need to as Sardja was locked in, working around a leadoff walk in the 6th to keep Eastern off the board before working a 1-2-3 bottom of the 7th with a pair of strikeouts to close things out as the Bucs took the opener 3-1.
Sardja went the distance, allowing just four hits and posting six straight zeroes after the 1st inning run. She earned the win to improve to 14-1 on the year while striking out a career high nine for FSW. McCray finished 1-2 with her 3rd inning home run and a pair of RBIs for the Bucs in the win.
Game two had a completely different script.
FSW was on the board early and often as Ella Moore banged a 2nd inning double to start the scoring and two batters later the Bucs smashed back to back to back RBI triples to stretch the lead to 5-0. The extra base hits kept on coming as Drijvers split the gap with an RBI double to cap a six run inning to give FSW a 6-0 lead after two.
Bucs starter Lea Chevrier worked a quick 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 2nd and the FSW offense was back at it in the 3rd as Shenita Tucker slapped a single up the middle to bring home a run and came around to score herself on a two run single from Platt to make it 9-0.
FSW continued to pour it on in the 4th as Drijvers ripped her second double of the game in front of a two run rocket out to center from Feline Poot to extend the lead to 11-0.
Eastern got their lone run of the game in the 4th on a solo home run before Esmee Ames came in out of the Bucs bullpen for a 1-2-3 5th with a pair of strikeouts as the Bucs finished off the Titans 11-1 in a five inning run rule.
FSW banged out 13 hits in the win, led by the book ends of their order as Tucker and Platt each drove in three at the top of the order while Poot and Moore had two hits and two runs each at the bottom. Chevrier earned her 10th win of the season in the circle, going 3 1/3 innings and allowing four hits and one run to improve to 10-2 on the year.
FSW has now won 24 in a row to improve their record to 35-3 overall while remaining perfect in Southern Conference play at 6-0. Eastern Florida falls to 14-27 overall and 0-6 in conference action.
The Bucs are back in action on Saturday with their toughest test thus far in Southern Conference action as they take on #15 Indian River in a 1:15 first pitch in Fort Pierce before taking on State College of Florida in non-conference action right afterwards.