FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #8 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers made a pair of valiant late game comebacks on Saturday, but neither was enough as the #20 Central Florida Patriots came into Buccaneers Park and swept FSW 6-5 and 6-4 to take command of the 2026 Citrus Conference Championship race with two weekends left to go.

In game one of the doubleheader it was Central Florida striking first, getting back to back two out doubles in the 2^nd to give the Patriots an early 1-0 lead.

The Bucs shot themselves in the foot in the 3^rd to allow the Pats to extend upon their advantage as back to back walks to begin the inning followed by a pair of errors plated two runs and a third scored later in the frame on a groundout to make it 4-0 Central Florida at the end of three.

FSW finally broke through in the 4^th as Bishop Quarles crushed a 2-0 pitch out to left center to get on the board and cut the Patriots lead to 4-1

Central Florida answered right back against the Bucs bullpen in the 5^th to push their lead back to four before Tyler June hit a leadoff single and eventually scored in the FSW half of the inning to make it 5-2 Patriots after five.

Two more free passes from Bucs pitching once again set the table for the Patriots and they cashed a run in with a two out double to pad their lead to 6-2 after 5 ½.

FSW put together their best rally of the game in the 6^th as they put runners on second and third with nobody out to start the inning and Robbie Demetree knocked a run in with a double just inside the third base bag to make it 6-3. One batter later June lined a single to right to plate two more and make it a one run game with the tying run in scoring position with one out. June moved to third on a wild pitch, but was stranded there at inning's end as Central Florida clung to a 6-5 lead as the teams went to the 7^th and final inning.

A pair of Bucs relievers held it right there with a 1-2-3 top of the 7^th, but the heart of the FSW order couldn't get anything going in their final at bats as they went down in order as the Patriots closed out a 6-5 victory.

The Bucs outhit the Patriots 10-5 in the game, but FSW pitching walked five and hit two more while their two early errors cost them two runs which proved to be the difference in the loss. June finished 2-3 with a pair of RBIs while Keenan Jabeth was a perfect 2-2 with a walk. Anthony Wilkie suffered the loss on the mound, allowing four runs on three hits in four innings worked to fall to 7-3 on the year. 

#8 FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN/#20 CENTRAL FLORIDA GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Game two was a pitcher's dual early on as FSW's Parker Burgess and Central Florida's Jay June matched zeroes through the first three innings to quickly send the game to the 4^th scoreless.

After Burgess wiggled out of a jam in the top of the 4^th, his offense finally rewarded him as Quarles pulled a triple down into the corner and scored on a deep sacrifice fly off the bat of Cris Walley to put FSW in front 1-0.

Burgess finished a stellar outing with two more strikeouts in a scoreless 5^th, but his offense couldn't build upon the lead, stranding a pair in the bottom of the inning as it remained a 1-0 game to the 6^th.

The Bucs left two runners on for the third straight inning in the 6^th and it finally came back to bite them in the 7^th as the Patriots broke up FSW's shutout bid with a two run single to right to take their first lead of the game at 2-1 at stretch time.

Three walks by FSW pitching loaded the bases up for Central Florida without putting the ball in play in the 8^th and the Patriots cashed in the freebies with a two out single to center to build their lead to 4-1.

What seemed inconsequential at the time, the Patriots tacked on two more insurance runs in the 9^th, and it turned out those runs were more important than Central Florida even realized at the time.

Down 6-1 entering the 9^th, the Bucs leaded the bases with nobody out after a hit batter, a walk, and a single to right brought the tying run to the on deck circle. A Central Florida error allowed two runs to score to make it a 6-3 game and two batters later an RBI single from Jonah St. Antoine pulled through the right side pushed the tying run into scoring position with nobody out in the inning. However, back to back strikeouts lessened the threat and a groundout on the infield brought things to an end as FSW fell 6-4.

Central Florida outhit FSW 12-6 in the contest while the Bucs went just 2-19 with runners on base in the defeat. No FSW players had multiple hits, runs, or RBIs in the loss. Burgess didn't factor into the decision, but went five scoreless innings, scattering five hits while striking out seven in his second straight quality start. The bullpen imploded behind him though, allowing six runs over the next three frames which ended up being the difference. Gavin Kindell took the loss, allowing three hits and two runs while striking out three in two innings of work to fall to 2-1 on the year 

#8 FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN/#20 CENTRAL FLORIDA GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The losses are a crushing blow to the Bucs hopes to repeat as Citrus Conference Champions as they fall to 30-12 overall and 18-9 in league play where they are two full games plus the tiebreaker behind the Patriots who end the weekend  29-16 overall and 20-7 in Citrus play.

The Bucs are back in action Thursday when they host Seminole State in a 3 PM first pitch from Bucs Park in Fort Myers.