Posted: Apr 04, 2025
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers suffered their second loss in as many days on Friday, settling for a split with the #10 Daytona State Falcons, hanging on for a 1-0 game one win before dropping an 8-7 extra innings thriller in game two.
The Bucs had the first scoring opportunity of game one as they loaded the bases with two outs in the 2nd but couldn't score while FSW starter Leah Meyer kept Daytona off the board to send the game to the 3rd scoreless between the two Top 10 foes.
FSW broke through in the 3rd as Noelani Livingstone singled to lead off the inning and stole second before coming home on an RBI single from Nicole Edmiaston to put the Bucs up 1-0.
There was some action in the middle innings, but neither team was able to push anything across as FSW remained in front 1-0 at the end of five innings of action.
Both teams went down in order in the 6th and Bucs reliever Lizzy Kwakernaak made sure the same was true for the Falcons in the 7th as she closed out the game in style with a pair of strikeouts to give FSW a 1-0 shutout victory in the opener.
Meyer and Kwakernaak combined on a dominating one hit shutout, striking out 11 in the victory. Kwakernaak earned the in in the circle, going 5 shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out 9 to improve to 8-1 on the year.
Livingstone was the lone player for either side to record multiple hits while also scoring the game's only run.
Both teams surpassed their game one offensive production in the first inning of game two as FSW scored two 1st inning runs while Daytona scored their first run of the game to give the Bucs a 2-1 lead at the end of one.
The Bucs added to their lead with a run in the 2nd, but Daytona fought back, scoring four times in the bottom of the 3rd , thanks in part to a pair of FSW errors, to take their first lead of the day at 5-3.
Another Buccaneer error in the 4th cost them their fourth unearned run of the game as Daytona padded their lead to 6-3.
The Bucs showed some life in the 5th as they put two runners in scoring position in front of Edmiaston who ripped a double the other way to score both runners and get FSW back to within one at 6-5.
Livingstone knocked in the equalizer in the 6th to make it a 6-6 game and Kwakernaak stranded the bases loaded for the Falcons in the bottom of the inning to keep things tied at 6 at the end of six.
The Bucs left two on in the 7th to send the game to extra innings and Livingstone was stuck in scoring position to end the 8th to send the game to inning number nine deadlocked at 6.
There was more traffic on the bases for the Bucs in the 9th as they put runners on second and third with two out, but a groundout to third ended the threat and kept it tied at 6 in the middle of the 9th
A leadoff single got the Falcons going in the bottom of the 9th and after two quick FSW outs, a stolen base and a two out walk off single did the Bucs in as Daytona took game two 7-6 to split the doubleheader.
Edmiaston finished with two hits and a three RBIs to lead the Bucs offense while Livingstone and Kmari Williams also finished with two hits each. Kwakernaak was the tough luck loser in the circle for FSW, allowing one run on four hits in four innings of work to see her 2025 record move to 8-2.
The Bucs drop games on back to back days to move to 37-3 overall on the year while seeing their Citrus Conference lead shrink to just one game at 23-3. Daytona wins their 30th of the year as they move to 30-12 overall and 14-10 in Citrus Conference play with the split.
Things don't get any easier for the Bucs their next time out as they host #3 and defending NJCAA National Champions Indian River Tuesday at 1 PM for a key Citrus Conference doubleheader at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers.
