February 22, 2023
Bucs Earn Road Sweep of Old Suncoast Conference Foe Polk State
Playing for the first time in 17 days, the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers earned a road sweep over old Suncoast Conference rival Polk State on Tuesday, blanking the Eagles in game one of the doubleheader 8-0 before hanging on late for a 6-4 win in game two to finish off the sweep.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla.- Playing for the first time in 17 days, the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers earned a road sweep over old Suncoast Conference rival Polk State on Tuesday, blanking the Eagles in game one of the doubleheader 8-0 before hanging on late for a 6-4 win in game two to finish off the sweep.
In game one of the twinbill the Bucs jumped in front early as Caroline Figueroa cracked a solo home run with two outs in the 2nd to give FSW a quick 1-0 lead.
The Bucs added to their lead in the 3rd as Maddy Golka ripped an RBI double and Shenita Tucker drove her in one pitch later to make it a 3-0 game. Later in the frame Laura Vigna lifted a sacrifice fly to center to plate Tucker and at the end of three it was FSW 4 and Polk State 0.
Belle Sardja was sharp in the circle for the Bucs, cruising through the 3rd and then the 4th allowing just one hit kept it a 4-0 game in favor of FSW.
Vigna singled home the Bucs fifth run of the game in the 5th before Figueroa hammered her second home run of the game deep and out to left to blow the game wide open to 8-0.
Sardja made that hold up as she needed just seven pitches to breeze through the Eagle order in the bottom of the 5th, kicking in the run rule with the Bucs taking it 8-0 in five.
Sardja went the distance in the circle to improve to 2-1 on the year and needed just 53 pitches for a two hit shutout. Figueroa was the offensive star, going a perfect 3-3 with two home runs and four RBIs while Tucker finished 2-3 with a pair of stolen bases and two runs scored at the top of the Buccaneer order.
In game two the Eagles gave the Bucs a bit more of a challenge.
As they did in game one, the Bucs jumped ahead right off the bat in game two as Sydney McCray lined an RBI double to left and then stole third and scored on a groundout from Vigna to give FSW a 2-0 lead after a half inning of play.
Polk got their first run of the day on an infield single in the bottom of the 1st and got two more in the 3rd to level the score at 3.
FSW went back in front in the 4th as Tucker slapped a single back up the box to drive home a run to make it 4-3 and later in the inning Vigna singled to left to score her to make it 5-3.
It remained a 5-3 game to the 6th when Feline Poot tripled to start the inning for the Bucs and two pitches later Ella Moore drove her in with a groundout on the infield to stretch the lead to 6-3.
Polk made things interesting, scoring a run in the bottom of the 6th and putting the tying runs on base, but Kylee Graham worked out of the jam to keep it a 6-4 game at the end of six complete.
The Bucs put two on in the 7th as they looked to add some insurance, but couldn't come through with the big hit to extend their lead. They didn't need it though as Sardja came in out of the FSW bullpen to work a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the frame to close it out as the Bucs hung on to win 6-4.
FSW was actually outhit 11-7 in the win, but took advantage of four Polk errors while the played clean defensively. McCray led the offense, going 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI while Vigna and Moore each drove in two in the win. Graham earned the win out of the FSW bullpen, going three innings and allowing just one earned run to improve to 5-0 on the year. Sardja earned her NJCAA leading fourth save of the year with a scoreless 7th.
The Bucs improve to 9-2 on the year with the sweep while Polk State falls to 3-5.
FSW will be back in action this weekend in the Courtney Miller Invitational in Longwood where they will take on four different FCSAA squads in the two day event starting on Saturday when they battle Santa Fe and Daytona State beginning at 1:15 PM.