Posted: Mar 04, 2025
FORT PIERCE, Fla.- The only two teams to win an NJCAA Division I National Championship the past four seasons hooked up Tuesday afternoon in Fort Pierce as the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Champion Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers squared off against the 2024 Champion Indian River State Pioneers. Game one was dominated by pitching with FSW's Leah Meyer outdueling reigning National Pitcher of the Year J'dah Girigorie in a 2-1 Bucs win. Game two was a different story as the Bucs exploded for 13 runs in a dominating 13-5 victory to finish off the sweep and remain unbeaten at a perfect 22-0 on the year.
The Bucs made a statement early on as Skylar Brennan ripped a two out double and scored on a line drive shot the other way out of the park from Virginia Mambelli to give FSW a quick 2-0 advantage in the 1st.
Indian River cut the Bucs lead in half in the 2nd, taking advantage of an FSW error to push a run across and make it a 2-1 game.
The Pioneers loaded the bases without a hit in the 4th as they looked to level the score, but FSW starter Leah Meyer battled out of the jam and kept the Bucs in front 2-1 after four.
Meyer dug in from there, working 1-2-3 frames in the 5th and 6th to hold the 2-1 lead, but the Bucs couldn't get anything going with the bats and it remained a one run game into the 7th.
The Bucs couldn't get any insurance in the 7th, but they didn't need it as Meyer worked around a one out walk and dialed up a strikeout when her team needed it the most to close out the game as FSW hung on to win game one 2-1.
Meyer went the distance in the circle, allowing just one Indian River hit to earn her sixth win of the season. Brennan and Noelani Livingstone had two hits a piece for FSW while Mambelli had both RBIs on her 1st inning blast.
The Pioneers jumped on the board first in game two as they got a leadoff double followed by an RBI single to start the bottom of the 1st to take an early 1-0 lead.
FSW answered right back with three straight run scoring hits in the top of the 2nd as Livingstone pulled an RBI single through the hole, Emily Allegood ripped an RBI double to the gap, and Faith Wharton added an RBI single to left to put the Bucs in front 3-1.
Bucs starter Zoe Yzaguirre worked a big shutdown inning in the bottom half of the 2nd and the FSW offense was right back at it in the 3rd as they loaded the bases with nobody out before RBI singles from Nicole Edmiaston and Wharton upped the lead to 6-1.
The Bucs continued to pile on in the 5th as Wharton continued her big game with a sacrifice fly to left and Lizzy Kwakernaak got in on the fun with an RBI double the other way to bump the lead to 8-1 in favor of FSW.
On the brink of being run ruled by their rivals, Indian River punched back, getting an RBI double and a two run home run to left to begin the bottom of the 5th to cut the Bucs lead to 8-4. Later in the inning a two out single brought home their fourth run of the frame to all of a sudden make it a game again at 8-5 at the end of five.
Bucs reliever Marissa Wilkinson fired a key 1-2-3 frame in the 6th and the Bucs offense responded with a five spot in the bottom of the inning, using a bases loaded bean ball, followed by RBI singles from Makayla Jakubuwski and Brennan and a Pioneer error to blow the lead wide open to 13-5.
Indian River put a pair on in the bottom of the 7th but Wilkinson wouldn't flinch, getting the final hitter to pop out to wrap up a dominating 13-5 win for FSW to complete the sweep.
Wharton had a career game, driving in five for FSW in the win while Livingstone finished with three hits and Mambelli had another multi-hit game with a pair of runs scored.
After single handedly earning her wins in shutouts last week, Yzaguirre benefitted from the Bucs bats to pick up the win Tuesday to improve to 9-0 on the year. Wilkinson was outstanding in relief, going three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits to pick up her second save of the season.
The Bucs earn their fifth and sixth straight victories over a ranked opponent, improving to 22-0 overall and 8-0 in Citrus Conference play with the wins. Indian River drops back to back games for the first time in nearly a year as they fall to 14-3 overall and 5-3 in conference action.
FSW is back in action on Saturday when they host Santa Fe in a 1 PM doubleheader from Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers.
