February 5, 2022
Offensive Explosion Earns Bucs Pair of Tourney Wins
The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers bounced back from their first loss of the 2022 season with a vengeance on Saturday, putting up 38 hits and 36 runs in just 10 offensive innings to earn a pair of run rule wins over Lake Land and #4 Salt Lake and improve to 8-1 on the year.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers bounced back from their first loss of the 2022 season with a vengeance on Saturday, putting up 38 hits and 36 runs in just 10 offensive innings to earn a pair of run rule wins over Lake Land and #4 Salt Lake and improve to 8-1 on the year.
In the Bucs first matchup of the day, Lake Land came out and jumped on FSW early, taking a 2-0 advantage on the Bucs before they got to swing the bat for the first time.
FSW quickly answered though as Sterre den Duijn drove home a pair with a single up the middle in the bottom of the 1st and Charlotte Drijvers and Carys Platt both ripped RBI singles to turn the tide on the Lakers and give the Bucs a 5-2 lead after one.
The Bucs started to pour it on in the 2nd with Drijvers driving home two more with a double to center and Shenita Tucker and Taylor Jensen picking up RBI knocks to stretch the lead to 10-2.
It was more of the same in the FSW 3rd as the Bucs tacked on six more, the big blow coming on a two run double from Feline Poot to make it a 16-2 game.
Lake Land got a solo home run in the 4th, but FSW answered right back again with three more in the bottom of the frame, including a two run single from Ava Worthy to push their lead to 19-3.
Brooke Geiger came in out of the Bucs bullpen and spun a scoreless 5th to finish things off giving FSW a lopsided 19-3 run rule win.
The Bucs banged out 18 hits in the win, led by Drijvers who finished 3-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored and den Duijn who went 2-3 with three runs driven home. Kylee Graham earned her team leading fourth win of the season in relief, going 3 1/3 innings, allowing just two hits and one run for FSW.
In their second contest of the afternoon, the top ranked Bucs squared off with #4 Salt Lake in the tournament's marquee matchup of the weekend.
Den Duijn got the Bucs on the board first, ripping a two run double to the gap in left center to give FSW a 2-0 lead after one.
In the second Laura Vigna came through in the clutch with a two run single up the box to double the Bucs lead to 4-0.
Some sloppy defense by FSW in the bottom of the 2nd allowed Salt Lake to get back into the game and the Bruins took full advantage, scoring four times to even the score at 4-4 after two.
The Bucs bats remained red hot in the 3rd as they scored four more times, first on an RBI double from McKenzie Wittenberg and then on another run scoring knock from Drijvers before a Bruin error allowed the third and fourth runs of the frame to come plateward to make it an 8-4 game.
Another RBI single from Drijvers in the 4th pushed the lead to 9-4, but Salt Lake fought back again, getting back to within striking distance with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to make it a 9-6 game at the end of four.
The Bucs put the game away in the 5th as Vigna found another hole to drive home a run and Wittenberg picked up her second RBI of the game with a single the other way to make it 12-6.
FSW starter Baylee Haggard hung a zero on the Bruins in the bottom of the inning and the Bucs were back at it in the 6th.
Poot drove home two more with a double down the right field line to get the scoring started for FSW in the 6th and den Duijn continued her big night with an RBI double to left center to make it 15-6. They still weren't done as two batters later Taylor Jensen crushed a 2-2 pitch into the night for a two run home run to make it 17-6.
With little left to the imagination but the final score, the Bucs had room for one more highlight in the bottom of the 6th as with one out, a line drive on the infield turned into a double play after the throw back to first bounced off the runner and into the glove of first baseman Pallas Potter to end the game in a run rule.
The Bucs banged out 20 hits in the win with nine different players recording at least one hit and seven players putting together multi-hit games. Den Duijn finished 4-5 with two doubles and three RBIs while Vigna was 3-4 with three RBIs in front of her and Wittenberg and Drijvers both had two hits and two RBIs. Haggard benefitted from the offense in the circle, earning her fourth win of the season by going the distance and allowing just two earned runs against the Nation's top offense from a season ago.
The big day moves the Bucs to 8-1 on the year.
FSW will be right back in action Saturday morning with two games on tap as they take on St. Thomas JV at 10:30 followed by the 3rd ranked team in Division II, the Louisburg Hurricanes from North Carolina.