FORT PIERCE, Fla.- Winners of four of the past five NJCAA National Championships locked up Tuesday in Fort Pierce in a Top 10 matchup as the #4 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers took on the #9 Indian River Pioneers. FSW used some two out magic in game one for a 5-2 victory before Indian River handed FSW a rare run rule loss in game two, holding the Bucs to just one hit in an 8-0 defeat to split the doubleheader.

The Bucs jumped on the Pioneers right away in game one as Noelani Livingstone walked to lead off the ballgame moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a wild pitch to give FSW an early 1-0 lead.

The Bucs were back at it with two outs in the 2^nd as Mikan Nishiya walked, Kaitlyn Klismith moved her to second with a single and Livingstone knocked her in with a double to center to double the lead to 2-0.

For the third straight inning in the 3^rd it was two out magic for FSW. After two outs on the first two pitches of the inning, four straight singles including RBI knocks from Nishiya and Klismith once again doubled the Bucs lead, this time to 4-0.

Indian River cracked the scoreboard for the first time with a solo home run to lead off the 3^rd, but the Bucs answered right away with yet another two out run in the top of the 4^th to make it a 5-1 game midway through.

The Bucs didn't score again, but it didn't matter as FSW pitcher Zoe Yzaguirre allowed just one more run to the Pioneers, finishing them off in the 7^th with a 1-2-3 frame to close out a 5-2 win for the Bucs in the opener.

FSW finished with nine hits in the win with Klismith leading the way with a 2-3 effort at the bottom of the lineup. Yzaguirre went the distance in the circle, allowing just five hits and one earned run to pick up her 10^th win of the year.

#4 FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN/#9 INDIAN RIVER GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Game two was a completely different story.

FSW went down quickly in order in the top half of the 1^st while Indian River loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom half as the first three hitters of their half of the frame reached base. The Bucs got out of the jam allowing just one run, but it was enough to give the Pioneers their first lead of the day at 1-0 at the end of one inning of action.

It was more of the same in the 2^nd as the Bucs couldn't get anything going in the top half and Indian River had traffic in the bottom, cashing in a pair of unearned runs after a Buccaneer error to extend their lead to 3-0.

FSW went down in order in the 3^rd and 4^th and Indian River kept momentum on their side, opening up a 6-0 advantage with three more in the 4^th .

The Bucs had their best scoring chance of the game in the 5^th as Senna Grootings earned a leadoff walk and Stephanie Basso picked up FSW's lone hit of the game with one out, but a strikeout and a groundout ended the threat and kept Indian River in front 6-0.

Another FSW defensive blunder cost them a run in the 5^th to make it 7-0 Indian River and after a 1-2-3 top of the 6^th for the Bucs, the Pioneers finished the game off with a run in the 6^th to kick in the run rule, winning it 8-0.

FSW was outhit 12-1 in the game and made three errors on the defensive end, resulting in four unearned runs for the Pioneers. Charlotte Graham took the loss in the circle, allowing six hits and three runs in 2 1/3 innings to fall to 5-1 on the year.

It marked the Bucs first run rule loss in over four seasons. The good news from that is the last time it happened, the Bucs rolled off 23 straight wins afterwards in route to their second straight NJCAA National Championship in 2022.

#4 FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN/#9 INDIAN RIVER GAME TWO BOX SCORE

It's the second straight split for the Bucs as they move to 22-5 overall and 11-3 in Citrus Conference play. Indian River pushes their record to 22-7 overall and 6-5 in league play.

Things don't get any easier for the Bucs next time out as they host #6 Santa Fe Saturday at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers with first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for noon.