March 2, 2024
Figueroa/Thomas Power Bucs to Sweep of Hillsborough
The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers went into this weekend tied for first place in the Citrus Conference standings with the Hillsborough Hawks. After a three home run day from Victor Figueroa and six hits from Justin Thomas to lead the Bucs to a Saturday sweep of the Hawks, FSW leaves the weekend with both a three game lead in the conference standings on Hillsborough as well as six other teams tied for second at 5-4 in conference play after three weekends of action.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers went into this weekend tied for first place in the Citrus Conference standings with the Hillsborough Hawks. After a three home run day from Victor Figueroa and six hits from Justin Thomas to lead the Bucs to a Saturday sweep of the Hawks, FSW leaves the weekend with both a three game lead in the conference standings on Hillsborough as well as six other teams tied for second at 5-4 in conference play after three weekends of action.
The Bucs didn't take long to get going as after Justin Thomas singled to start his big day to lead off the FSW 1st in game one, Victor Figueroa launched a two run home run into the Buccaneer bullpen to give them a 2-0 lead in the blink of an eye. Later in the inning the Bucs loaded the bases with two outs before Cooper Clapp flaired a two run single into center to double the Bucs lead to 4-0 at the end of one.
Hillsborough got their lone run of the game in the 3rd as they strung together three singles to push one across and make it a 4-1 game after three.
The Bucs tacked on a pair of runs in the 4th as Eric Blair singled to lead off the inning and Thomas doubled behind him before Figueroa drove home a run with a groundout and Thomas scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-1 FSW.
Clapp picked up his second two run single of the game in the FSW 5th to make it 8-1 and Thomas doubled home two more to pad the lead to 10-1 before he scored on back to back wild pitches to kick in the run rule with the Bucs taking game one of the doubleheader 11-1.
Four different Bucs had multi-hit games as Thomas finished 3-4 with two doubles and three runs scored while Classp was 2-3 with four RBIs and Blair and Nate Earley both went 2-3. FSW starter Jordan Huskey became the first Buccaneer hurler in program history to throw three consecutive complete games as he went all five innings and scattered six hits while striking out five to improve to 3-1 on the year.
The game was completed in just 1:20 making it the fastest game in FSW Baseball history.
Game two started just like game one did as Thomas doubled to begin the contest, stole third, and trotted home as Figueroa crushed another two run shot to left center to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead just two batters in. Later in the inning Blair came through with a one out RBI single to right to plate the Bucs third run of the inning to give FSW a 3-0 advantage after one.
The Bucs added to their lead in the 3rd as Luca Danos drilled a leadoff home run to left to make it 4-0.
Hillsborough found their way onto the scoreboard with a solo shot of their own in the top of the 4th, but the Bucs answered right away with Thomas and Figueroa right in the middle of it as Thomas beat out an infield single before Figueroa's third home run of the afternoon, another two run shot to make it 6-1 FSW.
The Hawks finally showed some life in the middle innings as they got a run in the 5th and two more in the 6th, but Bucs reliever Brandon Gonsalves picked up back to back strikeouts to end the 6th and keep it a 6-4 game.
The Bucs put their first two men of the 6th on to start the inning before Thomas greeted the Hawk bullpen with a three run bomb the other way on the first pitch Hillsborough reliever Lex Sanchez delivered to quickly stretch the lead back out to 9-4. They weren't done yet as later in the frame Danos, Earley, and Nik Pereira strung together three straight singles to plate a run to give FSW a 10-4 lead at the end of six complete innings of play.
Hillsborough threatened to get back into it, loading the bases with one out in the 8th, but the Bucs limited the damage to just one on a sacrifice fly to remain up big 10-5.
The Hawks were able to take advantage of a leadoff walk in the 9th to score a run, but that's all they would get as Bucs reliever Landon O'Donnell punched out the final two hitters he faced to close things out and lock up a 10-6 win for the Bucs to complete the sweep.
Each of the first five hitters in the Bucs order had multi-hit games in the win as FSW banged out 15 hits as a team in game two. Thomas was again the catalyst, going 3-5 with three RBIs as well as three runs scored in the victory while Figueroa finished 2-4 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs behind him. Gonsalves earned his third win of the season, going 2 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out four to improve to 3-0 on the year.
FSW completes the three game series sweep to improve to 17-6 overall and 8-1 in Citrus Conference play where they have already opened up a three game lead on the pack atop the standings. Hillsborough falls to 14-9 overall and 5-4 in conference action where they sit in a seven way tie for second behind FSW.
The Bucs are back in action on Tuesday when they take on Indian River in a non-conference game in Fort Pierce beginning at 5 PM before welcoming old Suncoast Conference rival State College of Florida to Fort Myers on Thursday to begin a three game set with the Manatees.