February 7, 2026
Bucs Split Pair of Nailbiters
The #3 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers split a pair of nailbiting contests Saturday afternoon in the Florida Panhandle, dropping a 4-3 decision to #4 Walters State in their first game of the day before winning a wild 14-12 extra innings battle over Columbia State in their nightcap to move to 7-2 on the year.
MARIANNA, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers split a pair of nailbiting contests Saturday afternoon in the Florida Panhandle, dropping a 4-3 decision to #4 Walters State in their first game of the day before winning a wild 14-12 extra innings battle over Columbia State in their nightcap to move to 7-2 on the year.
The Bucs first games of the day was an NJCAA Top 5 matchup as #3 FSW squared off against #4 Walters State.
After a scoreless 1st, the Bucs broke the ice in the 2nd as Evan Taveras lifted a 1-0 pitch deep and out over the center field wall to get the Bucs on the board and up 2-0.
The lead was short lived as a walk, a double, and a three run homer for the Senators in the bottom half of the frame gave Walters their first lead of the game at 3-2.
FSW tied the game up at 3 on the first pitch of the bottom of the 3rd as Keenan Jabeth launched his first collegiate home run out to left to square things up. Later in the inning a failed pick off allowed a second run to score for the Bucs to put FSW back in front 4-3.
Both teams went down in order in the 4th and Nicholas Lorenz fired a 1-2-3 top of the 5th out of the Bucs bullpen to keep it a 4-3 game in favor of FSW.
It was nothing doing for either side in the 6th as the game quickly went to the 7th and final inning with the Bucs clinging to a one run lead.
Down to their final three outs of the game, the Senators took advantage of a pair of free passes from Bucs pitching, getting back to back one out doubles to put three runs on the board and flip the script to take a 6-4 lead. Later in the inning a miscommunication on the infield by the Bucs allowed another to come across for Walters to give the Senators a 7-4 lead at the end of 6 1/2.
The Bucs brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the 7th but back to back strikeouts ended the threat and the game as FSW fell 7-4 for their second straight defeat.
The Bucs managed just five hits in the game while striking out nine times. Lorenz suffered the loss on the mound, allowing four runs, three earned, in 2 1/3 innings to fall to 0-1 on the year.
There were early fireworks in the Bucs second game of the day against Columbia State as FSW took a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the 1st as Cris Walley launched a three run homer over the wall in right. The lead was short lived though as the Chargers took advantage of four FSW free passes in the bottom of the inning to score five times and take a 5-3 lead.
The Bucs got a run back in the 2nd on a Charger error, but Columbia State got one of their own in the bottom half to remain up by two, 6-4 at the end of an action packed two innings of Baseball.
Aiden Talarico drove in the equalizers on a double to left in the top of the 3rd but once again, the Bucs couldn't keep it there as a pair of two out walks and an FSW error on the infield loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning and the Chargers cashed two of the freebies in with a single to left to go back in front 8-6.
Nick April-Gath walked for the second time in the game to leadoff the FSW 5th and he scored on an RBI double from Walley to get the Bucs back to within one at 8-7. Later in the frame a passed ball by the Chargers allowed Walley to trot home and tie the score back up at 8. The Bucs weren't done yet as Jabeth shot a single the other way to give FSW the lead back and later in the inning Greg Caban legged out an infield single to bring home another run and make it 10-8 Bucs.
Once again the Bucs couldn't hold the lead as after adding another run in the 6th to make it 11-8, the Bucs gave up three two out runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game once again, this time at 11.
The Bucs missed a golden opportunity to retake the lead in the 7th as they loaded the bases with one out for the middle of their lineup, but back to back strikeouts ended the threat and the inning with the score still deadlocked at 11.
Bucs reliever Judd Hildreth bailed the Bucs out after that, working a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the 7th to keep the score tied and send the game to extra innings still tied at 11.
As was the whole game, the top of the 8th was a roller coaster in itself for the Bucs as they put two on with nobody out but in the blink of an eye, a back pick at first and a strikeout had them with two outs quickly on the board. That's when Andy Perez stepped to the plate and gave the Bucs his biggest swing of his young FSW career, ripping a double to center to drive home a run and put the Bucs back in front 12-11.
The Bucs were one out away from victory when back to back walks gave the Chargers a chance and they took advantage of it, getting a double to left to drive home a run and tie the game back up at 12.
The Bucs had more traffic in the 9th as they had runners on first and second with nobody out and later the bases loaded with two outs, but they couldn't come through with the big hit as a tapper back to the pitcher left the bases loaded and sent the game to the bottom of the 9th tied at 12.
Columbia State got a leadoff double and put the game winning run on third in the bottom of the 9th, but FSW reliever Tre Jackson game up with a big strikeout to leave the runner stranded and send the game to the 10th.
The Bucs couldn't push anything across in the 10th and the Chargers put the game winning run on in the bottom of the inning but on the 236th pitch he had caught behind the plate on the night, Caban gunned down the runner trying to steal to end the inning and push it to an 11th inning.
April-Gath led off the FSW 11th with a single on the first pitch of the frame and one pitch later Walley cranked his second homer of the game, nearly five hours apart, to put the Bucs back in front 14-12.
Andy Hernandez came in out of the Bucs bullpen and ended things from there, working a 1-2-3 frame in the 11th to close it out as FSW walked away a 14-12 winner in a wild, nearly five hour contest.
The Bucs banged out 17 hits in the win with five different players recording multi-hit contests. Walley led the way, going 3-6 with a double, a pair of home runs, and six RBIs while April-Gath went 3-4 with four runs scored and Perez went 3-4 with three doubles despite not starting the game. Jackson earned his first career win, throwing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts out of the FSW bullpen while Hernandez nailed down his first save of the year with a perfect 11th.
The Bucs move to 7-2 on the year after the wild day.
FSW will be back in action on Sunday morning when the Bucs and Chargers go back at it again beginning at 10 AM.