CLEARWATER, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers run at a second straight FCSAA State Championship came to an end Thursday night under the lights in Clearwater as they were unable to overcome a late push by the #7 Indian River State Pioneers in a 9-6 loss in the State Semifinals. 

 

For the second straight game, the Bucs fell behind right off the bat as Indian River scored without a hit in the top of the 1^st to take an early 1-0 lead.  

 

The Bucs answered right away, putting two on with two out ahead of a two run single from Skylar Brennan to put them ahead for the first time at 2-1. 

 

The lead didn't last long as a leadoff double for Indian River set the table for the Pioneers and they brought the run in on a fielder's choice later in the frame to tie the game at 2. 

 

Ella Moore continued to swing her red hot bat with a triple to lead off the FSW 2^nd and she scored on an Indian River error to put the Bucs back ahead 3-2 after two. 

 

The back and forth affair continued in the 3^rd as once again a leadoff double by Indian River turned into a run to level the score at 3 and for the first time in the game the Bucs went scoreless in the bottom half of the inning to keep the score 3-3 at the end of three. 

 

FSW reliever Emily Allegood came in out of the bullpen to put up the Bucs first zero of the game in the 4^th and then helped herself in the bottom half of the inning, drilling a solo home run out to center to lead off the inning and put FSW back in front 4-3. 

 

The turning point of the game came in the 5^th as Indian River had a couple of balls with eyes on them, combined with a couple of tough hops against the Bucs defense to score four times and retake a 7-4 lead after 4 ½ innings of action. 

 

Indian River kept the pressure on the Bucs in the 6^th , drawing three walks to load the bases before back to back singles brought home runs to extend their lead to 9-4. 

 

The Bucs had a chance to get back in the game in the bottom of the 6^th as they put two on with two out ahead of an RBI single up the middle from Sydney McCray to score one, but a spectacular defensive play by Indian River brought the inning to a close with two ducks on the pond to keep the Pioneers in front 9-5 into the 7th. 

 

Down to their final three outs in the 7^th , the Bucs were able to get the tying run to the on deck circle, but they couldn't bring it to the plate as a foul out brought the game to an end with Indian River taking the win 9-6. 

 

The Bucs were outhit 14-8 in the game. Allegood finished 2-4 with her 4^th inning homer while Moore and Virginia Mambelli also each had two hits in the defeat. D'Yani McKinley didn't record a hit, but reached three times and stole a pair of bases for FSW at the top of the order. Allegood took the loss in the circle, allowing six hits and four runs in 2 1/3 innings pitched to fall to 7-1 on the year. 

 

The Bucs hopes for back to back state titles is dashed as they fall to 53-7 on the year while Indian River hits the 50 win mark where they will take a 50-9 mark into Friday's State Championship Game against #2 Northwest Florida. 

 

FSW will now try to work their way back in the NJCAA South Atlantic District B bracket to punch their ticket to the NJCAA World Series. Their road begins Friday at 1 PM when they take on #11 Gulf Coast at Eddie C Moore Park in Clearwater.