January 29, 2022
Tomaini's Walk Off Seals FSW Win Over Pasco
The #15 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers moved to 3-0 on the season on a cold night in Downtown Fort Myers as newcomer Paxton Tomaini came through in the clutch twice, including a walk off single in the bottom of the 9th to cap a 3-2 come from behind win for the Bucs over Pasco Hernando at the Marissa Gusto Memorial Tournament.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #15 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers moved to 3-0 on the season on a cold night in Downtown Fort Myers as newcomer Paxton Tomaini came through in the clutch twice, including a walk off single in the bottom of the 9th to cap a 3-2 come from behind win for the Bucs over Pasco Hernando at the Marissa Gusto Memorial Tournament.
The Bucs played from behind right off the bat against the Bobcats as Pasco got a solo home run in the 1st and another run in the 2nd to jump in front 2-0 after two inning of play.
FSW got on the board for the first time in the 3rd when Axel Melendez singled with one out and came around to score on an RBI double from Paxton Tomaini to cut the Pasco Hernando lead to 2-1.
Bucs starter Magnus Ellerts punched out a pair in a 1-2-3 top of the 4th and gave way to Ben Peterson out of the FSW bullpen who worked a 1-2-3 frame of his own in the 5th to keep it a 2-1 game to the 6th.
FSW evened things up in the 6th as Hunter Fitz-Gerald used his wheels for his second triple in as many days and scored on a sac fly off the bat of Yadiel Santana to level the score at 2.
Peterson worked out of jams in the 7th and 8th to keep the score tied, but the Bucs offense couldn't muster anything in the bottom half of the frames and the game remained knotted at 2 as the teams went to the 9th.
The Bucs looked like they were in trouble as Pasco loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the 9th, but a 6-2-3 double play followed by a groundout on the infield quickly ended the threat and gave FSW a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the 9th.
Jose Izarra legged out an infield single to begin the FSW 9th and moved to second on a passed ball and then to third on a wild pitch to put him 90 feet away from scoring the winning run with just one out in the frame. It didn't take long for him to head that way as Tomaini laced a single to right, bringing Izarra plateward and in the process, winning the game in walk off fashion for the Bucs 3-2.
Both teams had 10 hits in the contest with Izarra, Melendez, and Fitz-Gerald each picking up a pair and Tomaini finishing 2-5 with a pair of RBIs including the game winner. Ellerts went four innings, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out six in his FSW debut while Peterson went four scoreless out of the Bucs bullpen in the victory. Brian Holiday earned the win on the mound for FSW, throwing a scoreless 9th before the walk off knock.
FSW goes to 3-0 on the year with the win while Pasco remains winless at 0-3.
The Bucs will wrap up the Marissa Gusto Memorial Tournament on Sunday in an NJCAA Top 15 matchup when they take on #8 and fellow undefeated Miami Dade in a 1:30 first pitch from City of Palms Stadium.