April 6, 2024
Bucs Stunned by Daytona, Settle For Split
The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers trip to the Fun Coast was not so fun on Saturday as the Bucs were shocked by the Daytona State Falcons 5-2 in game one of their Citrus Conference doubleheader before bouncing back for a 9-3 win in game two to salvage the split.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers trip to the Fun Coast was not so fun on Saturday as the Bucs were shocked by the Daytona State Falcons 5-2 in game one of their Citrus Conference doubleheader before bouncing back for a 9-3 win in game two to salvage the split.
Things started well for the Bucs as they plated a 1st inning run on a single from D'Yani McKinley and a double from Skylar Brennan to knock her in and give FSW an early 1-0 lead.
The Bucs had a golden opportunity to extend upon their lead in the 2nd as Maddy Golka tripled to start the inning, but she spent the rest of the frame stranded 60 feet away from home as the Bucs bats couldn't drive her in as it remained a 1-0 game at the end of two innings of action.
Daytona took their first lead of the game in the 4th as they took advantage of back to back one out walks to set the table and a two run single to the gap to go in front 2-1 on FSW after four.
The Bucs were retired in order in the 5th for the third straight inning as they remained behind 2-1 at the end of five complete innings of play.
The Bucs leveled the score in the 6th as McKinley singled to leadoff the inning and stole second before coming home on a Daytona error to tie things up at 2.
The game didn't remain tied for long though as a leadoff walk and a Buccaneer error to start the bottom of the 6th put two on with nobody out for the Falcons and they cashed the gifts in with a double to the gap to go ahead 4-2 before a groundout later in the inning made it a 5-2 game in favor of Daytona.
The Bucs put a runner on in their final at bats in the 7th but could never bring the tying run any closer than the on deck circle as Daytona finished off a stunning 5-2 win over FSW to take game one of the doubleheader.
The game featured just eight total hits with five from FSW and three from Daytona State. McKinley had two of the Bucs five hits as a team and also scored both runs.
The Bucs took out their offensive frustrations right away in game two as they jumped out with a three run top of the 1st , highlighted by three straight singled from Sietske Drijvers, Skylar Brennan, and Emily Allegood to take an early 3-0 lead.
Walks in the circle came back to hurt the Bucs again in the 2nd as back to back free passes to begin the Daytona half of the frame started a run scoring inning for the Falcons to make it 3-1 at the end of two.
Allegood got the run back for the Bucs with one swing to begin the 4th as she launched her fourth homer of the season out to left to make it a 4-1 game in favor of the Bucs.
Daytona put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the 4th, but FSW starter Esmee Ames dialed up a timely strikeout to get out of the jam and keep the Bucs in front by three at the end of four.
Allegood was back at it for the Bucs in the 5th as she slapped a two out RBI single the other way to pad FSW's lead to 5-1 after 4 1/2.
Daytona made things interesting in the bottom of the 5th as they used a pair of hits and two more FSW walks to score twice and get back to within two at 5-3 at the end of five.
The Bucs put the game away for good in the 6th as Kmari Williams and Sietske Drijvers singled home runs in a three run frame to open things back up to 8-3 after six.
Ella Moore gave the Bucs some insurance in the 7th after ripping a one out triple and scoring on a Daytona error to make it 9-3 Bucs.
Bucs reliever Leah Meyer did the rest, working a 1-2-3 bottom of the 7th with a pair of strikeouts to close things out and give FSW a 9-3 win to split the doubleheader with the Falcons.
The Bucs banged out 14 hits in the win including three from Allegood who finished 3-4 with a homer and two RBIs for the Purple and Aqua. Drijvers, Moore, and Williams each had two hits and both scored and drove in a run for FSW in the win. Ames earned the win in the circle, going 4 1/3 innings and allowing five hits and three runs to move to 14-4 on the year while Meyer notched her second save with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless work out of the bullpen.
The split moves FSW to 39-5 overall and 26-4 in Citrus Conference action where they fall into a tie with Indian River with 14 games left in the conference schedule. Daytona goes to 20-22 overall and 11-17 in league play with the split.
The Bucs are back in action on Tuesday when they make a trip up the coast to Bradenton to take on State College of Florida with a doubleheader against the Manatees beginning at 4 PM.