March 14, 2022
Norman's 8th Inning Blast Propels Bucs Over Panthers
After struggling to come up with the big hit for seven innings Monday afternoon at City of Palms Park, the #17 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers got one big swing of the bat of freshman Satchell Norman to change all of that in the 8th as Norman cranked a three run home run, turning a 3-1 FSW deficit against the visiting South Florida State Panthers, into a 4-3 Bucs lead which they closed out in the 9th for their seventh consecutive victory.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- After struggling to come up with the big hit for seven innings Monday afternoon at City of Palms Park, the #17 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers got one big swing of the bat of freshman Satchell Norman to change all of that in the 8th as Norman cranked a three run home run, turning a 3-1 FSW deficit against the visiting South Florida State Panthers, into a 4-3 Bucs lead which they closed out in the 9th for their seventh consecutive victory.
South Florida State got on the board first in a rather embarrassing way for the Bucs in the 2nd as with a runner on third and two outs, a routine throw back to the mound after a pitch was mishandled, allowing the Panthers to score a run and take an early 1-0 lead.
The Bucs used a little luck and some good hustle to even the score in the 4th as Paxton Tomaini doubled with two outs to keep the inning alive and motored around on a fielding error on the infield from the Panthers to level the score at one after four.
The game didn't stay tied long though as four consecutive singles to begin the 5th for South Florida plated a run, giving the Panthers the lead back 2-1 midway through the contest.
FSW had a chance to get right back in it in the bottom half of the frame as they put runners on the corners with one out, but a first pitch tailor made double play ball ended the threat and the inning with South Florida State continuing to lead it 2-1.
A pair of FSW throwing errors in the 7th gifted the Panthers their third run of the game, allowing South Florida to extend their lead to 3-1 at stretch time.
After a quiet 7th for the Bucs, they finally broke through in the 8th as Ronny Medina drew a leadoff walk and Braden Forchic doubled to the gap in left center to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the inning. After a Panther pitching change, Satchell Norman laid into a 1-0 pitch, drilling it deep and out into the palm trees in left to flip the script and put the Bucs up 4-3 with one swing of the bat.
Bucs reliever Brian Holiday did the rest, mowing through the South Florida lineup like a buzz saw in the 9th, setting down the Panthers in order to seal the 4-3 win for FSW.
Norman was the hero for the Bucs, finishing 3-4 with the game winning homer and three RBIs in the win while Forchic picked up his first multi-hit game of the year for FSW, going 3-4 with a double and a run scored atop the Buccaneer lineup. Holiday earned the win out of the FSW bullpen, needing just 16 pitches for two quick scoreless innings to close it out and improve to 5-0 on the year.
FSW wins its seventh straight to improve to 19-11 on the year while South Florida State drops to 22-9.
The Bucs will wrap up a five game home stand at City of Palms Park on Wednesday when they host ASA Miami in a 3 PM first pitch in Downtown Fort Myers.