February 10, 2026
Bucs Bats Overwhelm Panthers
The #3 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers continued their red hot offensive tear on Tuesday, putting up 20 hits and 16 runs in a 16-5 run rule win over Palm Beach State in their final non-conference tuneup before beginning defense of their Citrus Conference Championship this weekend.
LAKE WORTH, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers continued their red hot offensive tear on Tuesday, putting up 20 hits and 16 runs in a 16-5 run rule win over Palm Beach State in their final non-conference tuneup before beginning defense of their Citrus Conference Championship this weekend.
The Bucs wasted little time in jumping on the Panthers as just two pitches into the game Nick April-Gath ripped a triple and one batter later he scored and put the Bucs ahead on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jonah St. Antoine.
FSW starter Robert Mitchell punched out the side in the bottom of the 1st and the Bucs were back at it in the 2nd with the sticks as Aiden Talarico and Adrian Poviones drove home runs to bump their lead to 3-0.
The Bucs continued to pour it on in the 3rd as Bishop Quarles singled to drive home a run and Talarico picked up a knock behind him to bring home two more and make it 6-0.
An FSW error allowed the Panthers to get back into the game in the bottom of the 3rd as Palm Beach scored four two out, unearned runs to draw back to within two at 6-4.
After the first scoreless inning of the game in the 4th the Bucs were right back at it in the 5th as Poviones drove home a pair with a single back up the middle to make it 8-4.
The middle of the Bucs order blew things open in the 6th as Greg Caban smacked an RBI double and Cris Walley remained red hot with his sixth home run of the year, a two run shot to make it 11-4 FSW at the end of six.
The Bucs put the game out of reach in the 8th, scoring five times, highlighted by RBI singles from Poviones, April-Gath, and Elijah Colston to blow it open to a 16-4 game.
Palm Beach got a run in the bottom of the 8th but it was far too little, too late as the run rule kicked in with the Bucs winning it 16-5.
FSW banged out a season high 20 hits in the win with Poviones leading the way going 4-5 with four RBIs and April-Gath, Caban, and Quarles each recording three hit days of their own.
Coston earned the win out of the bullpen for the Bucs, throwing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts for his first collegiate victory. Ryan Grzesiak had his best outing of the year with two scoreless innings of his own allowing just one hit in the process.
The Bucs are back in action on Thursday when they travel to Tampa to take on Hillsborough before playing their first Citrus Conference games at home on Saturday when they host the Hawks for a doubleheader beginning at noon at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers.