Posted: Apr 27, 2024
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers won a Conference Championship in the third different conference in the past three seasons on Saturday afternoon at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers, sweeping the Polk State Eagles to give the Bucs their eighth consecutive Conference Title overall and their first in the inaugural year of the Citrus Conference.
In a matchup of the top team in the Citrus Conference in the Bucs and the last place squad in the Eagles, it was a surprising pitcher's dual early on as FSW's Lea Chevrier worked out of jams in the 2nd and 3rd to keep Polk off the board while the FSW offense didn't get their first baserunner of the game until the bottom of the 3rd when KMari Williams walked and later scored on a Polk error to break the deadlock and give the Bucs a 1-0 lead.
Polk had more traffic in the 4th , putting two on for the third straight inning, but again Chevrier dialed up her best when she needed it, stranding both ducks on the pond to keep it a 1-0 game in favor of FSW.
The Bucs added to their lead in the bottom of the 4th as Sietske Drijvers smacked a leadoff double on King's Day in her home country of the Netherlands and later scored on an RBI groundout from Skylar Brennan to double the Bucs lead to 2-0 after four.
Drijvers fellow countrywoman Esmee Ames came on out of the Bucs bullpen in the 5th and was dialed in, retiring the Eagles in order to keep it a 2-0 game in favor of the home team.
After two quick outs in the FSW 5th the Bucs loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, but a pop out ended the threat and kept it a 2-0 game as the teams went to the 6th.
Ames blew Polk away with three straight strikeouts in a scoreless 6th before doing the same in the 7th to lock down the 2-0 shutout win for the Bucs in game one.
Chevrier and Ames combined for a one hitter with Chevrier going four innings for the win to improve to 23-0 on the year before Ames came in and retired all nine hitters she faced in three innings, striking out seven of them to nail down her team leading fifth save of the season. The Bucs finished with just five hits as a team with D'Yani McKinley the lone player to have more than one in the game, finishing 2-3 at the top of the FSW order.
The Eagles topped their game one offensive production in just one inning in game two as they picked up a pair of hits and pushed across a run in the 1st to take an early 1-0 lead on the Bucs.
The lead didn't last long though as Drijvers ripped a single up the middle to bring home a run to tie the score at one just three batters into the bottom of the 1st and moments later a bases clearing triple from Mia Terito put the Bucs in front 5-1 after one.
The Bucs scored a run without the benefit of a hit in the 3rd as back to back walks to start the inning followed by a sac bunt and then a sac fly brought a run in to make it 6-1 FSW at the end of three.
Polk put together a little two out magic in the 4th to push across a run and make it a 6-2 game, but FSW answered with a pair in the bottom of the inning to cushion their lead back to six at 8-2 as the teams went to the 5th .
The Bucs went to the bullpen in the 5th and had some trouble, walking four Polk hitters, including one with the bases loaded to allow the Eagles to score a run without a hit before Chevrier came to the rescue as the Bucs second reliever of the inning with a strikeout to put out the fire and keep FSW in front 8-3.
The strike zone continued to have a forcefield on it in the bottom of the 5th as three walks and a wild pitch gave the Bucs a run before Virginia Mambelli smacked a two run single back up the middle to put the game in the books as FSW took game two 11-3 in run rule fashion.
The Bucs were actually outhit 6-3 in the game, but took advantage of 14 free passes, 11 via walk and three hit batters in the win. Terito led the FSW offense, going 1-1 with a triple and four RBIs while McKinley was officially 0-1, but walked three times and scored each time for the Bucs. Ames picked up the win, going four innings and allowing six hits and two runs to improve to 19-5 on the year while Chevrier picked up the rare save in a run rule game, her ninth career, to tie the FSW all-time record.
With the wins the Bucs clinch the 2024 Citrus Conference Championship, their eighth consecutive across the Suncoast, Southern, and now Citrus Conferences. FSW finishes the regular season 52-6 overall and 39-5 in league play, three games clear of second place Indian River. Polk wraps up a difficult season 11-41 overall and in last place in Citrus Conference play at 5-37.
The Bucs now turn their attention to the playoffs where they will begin postseason play on Wednesday, May 8th in Clearwater at the FCSAA State Tournament.