Posted: Mar 29, 2025
Melbourne, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers leaned on their sophomores on Saturday in a Citrus Conference doubleheader against the #19 Eastern Florida Titans as Skylar Brennan, Virginia Mambelli, Emily Allegood, and Kmari Williams all recorded multiple hits in both ends of the twinbill to lead the Bucs past the Titans 9-1 and 7-5 to improve to 33-1 on the year.
The Bucs struck first in game one as back to back one out RBI doubles in the 1st from Skylar Brennan and Virginia Mambelli staked FSW out to an early 2-0 advantage.
The Bucs added to their lead in the 3rd as Mambelli roped her second double of the game and she came home on an RBI single from Emily Allegood to push the lead to 3-0.
FSW starter Leah Meyer continued to cruise in the circle in the 3rd and 4th for the Bucs, keeping the Titans at bay and keeping the Bucs in front 3-0.
The Bucs opened things up in the 5th as three straight RBI singles from Nicole Edmiaston, Allegood, and Karolina Dvorakova padded the lead to 6-0 before a two out Titan error that should have ended the inning allowed two more runs to score to make it an 8-0 game. An RBI single from Lizzy Kwakernaak put the finishing touches on a six run inning for the Bucs and gave FSW a 9-0 lead after 4 ½.
A pair of FSW errors in the 5th cost Meyer the shutout, but she worked her way out of further trouble later in the inning and finished things off as the Bucs took the opener 9-1 in a five inning run rule.
The Bucs piled up 14 hits in the win with eight of nine starters getting in on the fun. Mambelli and Allegood were both 2-2 and accounted for three runs each while Brennan was 2-3 with a double and two runs scored. Kmari Williams stayed hot with another multi-hit game at the bottom of the order while also stealing two bases. Meyer earned the win in the circle, going the distance and allowing just three hits and one unearned run to improve to 11-0 on the year.
The Bucs had to play from behind in game two of the doubleheader as it was Eastern Florida getting on the board first in the 2nd, scoring twice to take their first lead of the day at 2-0.
FSW answered right back though as Brennan shot a two out, two run single the other way to tie things up at 2 and Mambelli continued her big day with an RBI triple to right to bring Brennan home to put the Bucs in front 3-2.
After two quick outs in the bottom of the 3rd the Titans mounted a rally against the Bucs with three straight singles to load the bases before another hit brought two runs home and an FSW error allowed a second tally to put Eastern back in front 5-3.
It was more clutch hitting for the Bucs in the 4th , this time Williams coming through in a big spot as she singled home Allegood with a two out, RBI knock to get the Bucs back to within one at 5-4.
McKenzie Bailey-McDowell gave FSW a big shutdown inning in the 4th in the circle to keep it a one run game and the Bucs took advantage in the 5th , pushing across the equalizer on an RBI single from Allegood to knot things up at 5.
With momentum on their side, the Bucs loaded the bases with nobody out in the 6th and plated two as Brennan continued to swing a hot bat with a two run single to left to make it 7-5. A walk to Mambelli reloaded the bases and it looked like the Bucs were going to blow things open, but a 1-2-3 double play and a groundout ended the threat with no further damage done and the Bucs were forced to settle for a 7-5 lead after 5 ½.
That was all the Bucs would need as Bailey-McDowell did the rest, working around a two out single in the 6th to put up a zero before getting two outs in the 7th and handing the ball to Meyer to came in to record the final out of the game for the save as FSW completed the sweep with a 7-5 win in game two.
Brennan finished 2-4 with four RBIs to lead the FSW offense while Allegood was 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Williams and Mambelli both went 2-3 with a run knocked home. Bailey-McDowell earned the win with four sparkling innings of relief to improve to 4-0 while Meyer needed just three pitches to close things out and pick up her first save of the year.
FSW runs their winning streak to eight games as they improve to 33-1 overall and 19-1 in Citrus Conference action with the victories while Eastern Florida falls to 24-14 and 9-11 in league action.
The Bucs will take the field again on Tuesday at home at Buccaneers Park looking for program win number 500 as they square off against Hillsborough in a doubleheader beginning at 1 PM.
