February 28, 2023
Gair/Shaver Help Bucs Dismantle Titans
Marty Gair struck out eight over five innings of work and AJ Shaver missed hitting for the cycle by just a single as the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers hammered the St. Petersburg Titans 12-5 Tuesday night in Clearwater.
CLEARWATER, Fla.- Marty Gair struck out eight over five innings of work and AJ Shaver missed hitting for the cycle by just a single as the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers hammered the St. Petersburg Titans 12-5 Tuesday night in Clearwater.
The Bucs wasted little time in getting things going as Sergio Rivera walked to leadoff the game and three pitches later AJ Shaver crushed a home run to left to give the Bucs a quick 2-0 lead.
FSW was back at it in the 2nd as the Bucs loaded the bases with one out for Shaver who cleared the pillows with a triple to the gap, extending the Bucs lead to 5-0. Shaver later scored on a wild pitch to put FSW in front 6-0 at the end of two innings of action.
Bucs starter Marty Gair worked his third straight 1-2-3 inning in the 3rd, striking out a pair to keep FSW up 6-0 as the teams went to the 4th.
It took a Bucs error in the 4th for St. Petersburg to get on the board against Gair to cut it to a 6-1 game, but FSW quickly got the run back in the top of the 5th on a wild pitch and then added to their advantage with back to back home runs from Aries Samek and Austin Douglas to make it a 10-1 game.
The Bucs third error of the game cost them mightily in the 6th as a two out fumble allowed St. Pete to extend the inning and a pair of two out knocks plated three runs to get the Titans back in the game at 10-5.
It remained a 10-5 game all the way to the 9th when the Bucs added some insurance on an infield single to make it 12-5 and Zach Locke punched out a pair in a scoreless bottom of the 9th to close it out for a Bucs win.
Shaver was the story offensively for the Bucs, going 3-5 with a double, a triple, a home run, and five RBIs, missing the cycle by just a single in the win. Samek had a nice game at the dish as well, going 2-4 with a homer and four RBIs at the bottom of the Bucs order. Gair earned the win on the mound, sizzling through five innings, striking out eight to improve to 3-1 on the year while Locke and Reyn Watson combined for 3 1/3 scoreless out of the FSW bullpen to finish the game off.
FSW improves to 12-8 on the year with the win while St. Petersburg falls to 2-14.
The Bucs return back home this weekend as they host another former Suncoast Conference rival in Polk State on Friday at 2 PM before entertaining Seminole State in doubleheader action Saturday at noon at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers.