January 26, 2026
Talarico's Birthday Blasts Lead Bucs in Top 10 Battle
Much like most people, Florida SouthWestern's Aiden Talarico will never forget his 21st birthday. However, Talarico will likely remember it for a little bit different reasons than most as Monday, the Bucs slugger cranked not one, but two birthday blasts out of the yard to lead a five homer day for #3 FSW in a 7-6 win over #8 Florence Darlington.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Much like most people, Florida SouthWestern's Aiden Talarico will never forget his 21st birthday. However, Talarico will likely remember it for a little bit different reasons than most as Monday, the Bucs slugger cranked not one, but two birthday blasts out of the yard to lead a five homer day for #3 FSW in a 7-6 win over #8 Florence Darlington.
Things didn't get off to an optimal start for the Bucs as the first pitch of the game was hit out of the park to put them down 1-0 before the chalk had dried on the foul lines. A pair of walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch allowed another run in to give the Stingers a 2-0 advantage after a half inning of play.
The Bucs struck back in the bottom of the 2nd as Cris Walley launched a solo shot to lead off the frame and Greg Caban doubled ahead of a two run bomb by Aiden Talarico to give the Bucs a 3-2 lead.
Anthony Wilke threw a clean 1-2-3 top of the 3rd with a pair of strikeouts to keep the Bucs in front and the FSW offense added to their advantage in the bottom of the inning as Jonah St. Antoine remained red hot with a towering homer over the right field wall to make it 4-2 Bucs.
The Bucs doubled their lead on the bat of the birthday boy, Talarico in the 4th as he drilled his second two run home run of the game out of the park to bump the FSW advantage to 6-2.
FSW catcher Evan Taveras had his time in the spotlight on the defensive side of the ball in the 5th, throwing out a pair of runners at second to keep the Bucs up four, 6-2 midway through the contest.
The Bucs worked their way into some trouble in the 7th thanks to three free passes as Florence Darlington loaded the bases on just one hit before being gifted a run with a bases loaded walk to cut the Bucs lead to 6-3 before Elijah Coston came in out of the FSW bullpen to extinguish the flames and keep the Bucs up three at stretch time.
The Bucs got some insurance in the bottom of the 7th as Nick April-Gath joined the party with an opposite field shot to pad the Bucs lead to 7-3 at the end of seven.
A familiar face gave the Bucs some trouble in the 8th as former Buc O'Neil Feliz homered the other way and the Stingers got another solo homer behind that for back to back shots to dig into the Bucs lead at 7-5.
The Bucs looked like they had the game in the books, but a two out error in the 9th allowed the game to continue and a run to score to get Florence Darlington to within one at 7-6. A hit batter and a stolen base put the game tying run just 90 feet away but Walley picked a line shot off the turf for the 27th and final out of the ballgame at first to close things out as FSW hung on to win it 7-6 to finish the Sunshine Showdown a perfect 3-0.
Talarico was the hero on his 21st birthday, finishing 2-4 with a pair of home runs and 4 RBIs to lead the way for the Bucs. Caban and Walley each had two hits including a double while Walley joined Talarico with one of the Bucs five homers in the game.
Wilke earned the win with two sparkling innings of relief for the Bucs as he went two innings and did not allow a hit while striking out for for his first win for FSW. Parker Burgess and Andy Hernandez combined for three scoreless innings with five strikeouts while Judd Hildreth earned the save with a scoreless frame to close things out.
FSW improves to 3-0 on the year with the victory while Florence Darlington departs Fort Myers at 1-2.
The Bucs return home next weekend when they host Andrew College for a three game set at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers. The Bucs and Tigers will play two Saturday starting at 1 and will wrap up the series Sunday at noon.