Posted: Apr 24, 2023
KENDALL, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers clinched their seventh straight Conference Championship Monday afternoon on the road at Miami Dade, getting a three run home run from Feline Poot and a complete game shutout from Belle Sardja in a 7-0 win over the Sharks to seal up the title.
The Bucs were on the board early and often as Caroline Figueroa ripped a 2nd inning double to drive home a run and scored herself late on in the inning on an RBI single up the middle from D'Yani McKinley to put FSW up 2-0 at the end of two innings of action.
FSW starter Belle Sardja worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the 3rd and blanked the Sharks again in the 4th to keep it a 2-0 ballgame into the 5th .
The Bucs added to their lead in the 5th when Shenita Tucker singled on a ball up the middle and scored later in the inning on a Miami Dade error to make it 3-0.
A perfectly executed double steal for the Bucs in the 6th cushioned the lead once more to 4-0 and a three run shot from Feline Poot in the 7th put the game away as FSW took a 7-0 advantage.
Sardja finished with she started in the 7th , wrapping up her sixth shutout of the season with a 1-2-3 frame, ending the game in style with a strikeout to seal up a 7-0 win for the Bucs to clinch the championship.
The Bucs dominated the contest, outhitting the Sharks 12-3 in the victory. Poot led the offense, going 2-4 with a homer and three RBIs while Tucker, McKinley, Figueroa, and Carys Platt all had two hits as well in the win. Sardja went the distance in the circle, allowing just three hits while striking out five and throwing 51 of 67 pitches for strikes to improve to 19-2 on the year.
Game two of the doubleheader was cancelled due to weather in the area and with no bearing on the final conference standings, will not be made up.
FSW improves to 44-5 overall and wraps up it's seventh straight Conference Championship and first in the Southern Conference, finishing 12-2 in the league. Miami Dade ends their season at 14-26 overall and 2-12 in league play .
The Bucs will wrap up the regular season on Friday at home in Fort Myers at 2 PM when they host South Florida State on Sophomore Day at the park with their 10 sophomores being honored prior to game one of the doubleheader as they play their final career games in the friendly confines of Buccaneers Park.