March 26, 2022
Bucs Tear Continues In Blowout Of Polk
Right now the #14 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers are a runaway train and you don't want to be downhill of the Bucs on the track. FSW won their 13th straight game overall and 11th straight in Suncoast Conference play Saturday afternoon on the road at #20 Polk State, blowing out the Eagles 15-4 in an 8 inning run rule behind a 19 hit attack and 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief out of the bullpen from lefty Grant Besser.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla.- Right now the #14 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers are a runaway train and you don't want to be downhill of the Bucs on the track. FSW won their 13th straight game overall and 11th straight in Suncoast Conference play Saturday afternoon on the road at #20 Polk State, blowing out the Eagles 15-4 in an 8 inning run rule behind a 19 hit attack and 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief out of the bullpen from lefty Grant Besser.
The Bucs got the scoring going in the 2nd as Paxton Tomaini drilled the first pitch he saw out to right for a solo shot to give FSW an early 1-0 lead.
Polk answered back right away in the bottom of the frame with a two out double to the wall in right to even up the score at 1 after two.
Hunter Fitz-Gerald put FSW back in front in the 3rd with a two out RBI single and Jose Izarra followed him up with a two run double to center to push the Bucs lead to 4-1. The Bucs weren't done yet though as still with two outs in the frame Tomaini blooped in a single to center to make it 5-1 and Yadiel Santana lined a double to the gap to score him to make it 6-1 FSW after 2 1/2.
After Polk got a run back in the 3rd to make it a 6-2 game, the Bucs were back at it offensively in the 5th as Fitz-Gerald ripped another RBI single up the middle to stretch the lead back to five and later in the inning Santana drove home a pair with his second hit of the day to make it 9-2. With two outs, the Bucs continued their attack as Matthew Corpas scorched a pinch hit RBI single to left to up the Bucs lead to 10-2 at the midway point of the contest.
The Eagles came out swinging in the bottom of the 5th and popped back to back home runs on consecutive pitches to cut the Bucs lead to 10-4, but Grant Besser came on out of the FSW bullpen to prevent any further damage as the Purple and Aqua continued to lead it by six at the teams headed to the 6th.
Fitz-Gerald picked up his third RBI single of the game with one out in the 6th to push the lead to 11-4 for FSW and after a 1-2-3 inning from Besser on the mound, the Bucs added another in the 7th to make it 12-4.
The Bucs put the game away in the 8th as Tomaini picked up his third RBI of the game with a single to center and Santana drove in his fourth of the game with a single the other way to make it 14-4 before Corpas was hit with a pitch with the bases loaded to extend the lead to 15-4.
With the run rule in play, Besser went right after the Polk hitters in the bottom of the frame, needing just 10 pitches to work a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts to close out the Eagles 15-4.
FSW banged out a season high 19 hits, their eighth straight game with 10 or more hits while their 15 runs marked the sixth straight contest in which they reached double figures in runs. Six different players had multi-hit games for FSW including Santana who finished 4-5 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs. Fitz-Gerald, Izarra, and Tomaini all had three hits each while combining to score nine and drive in eight in the win. Magnus Ellerts went 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs while striking out seven to earn his sixth win of the year on the mound while Besser threw 3 1/3 shutout frames, punching out four to earn his fifth save of the season.
The Bucs have now won 13 straight overall and 11 straight in Suncoast Conference play to improve to 25-11 on the season and 12-2 in league play where they now hold a three game lead over the second place Eagles. Polk falls to 22-13 overall and 9-5 in conference action.
The series returns to Fort Myers on Monday for the final game of the three game set between the two with first pitch scheduled for 3 PM.