February 14, 2026
FSW Clinches Citrus Series Win
The #3 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers split a Saturday doubleheader against the Hillsborough Hawks at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers on Saturday, hammering the Hawks 11-1 in game one to clinch the series victory before coming up short 9-8 in game two as the Hawks avoided the sweep in the first Citrus Conference series of the year.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers split a Saturday doubleheader against the Hillsborough Hawks at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers on Saturday, hammering the Hawks 11-1 in game one to clinch the series victory before coming up short 9-8 in game two as the Hawks avoided the sweep in the first Citrus Conference series of the year.
Game one was over just about as soon as it started as the Bucs escaped a Hillsborough threat in the top of the 1st on your run of the mill 7-6-2 double play before letting loose on the Hawks in the bottom of the inning.
Nick April-Gath tripled to leadoff the FSW 1st and scored two batters later when Greg Caban singled back up the middle to put the Bucs up 1-0. That was just the tip of the iceberg as Caban scored on a passed ball before Bishop Quarles unloaded on a three run home run deep and out to right to make it 5-0 in the blink of an eye. The Bucs batted around and got a two run single the other way from Jonah St. Antoine to give them an eight run inning and an 8-0 lead at the end of one inning of play.
Hillsborough cracked the board in the 2nd with a run but the Bucs answered back one inning later when Keenan Jabeth ripped a solo home run to left to put FSW back up eight, 9-1 after three.
It was Robbie Demetree's turn in the 4th as he found a hole on the left side of the infield to drive home two and make it an 11-1 game.
Bucs reliever Judd Hildreth finished things off from there, working a 1-2-3 top of the 5th to kick in the run rule with FSW winning it 11-1 in a swift 1:48.
Eight different Bucs picked up hits in the win with Quarles the lone player to record a multi-hit game, going 2-2 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Anthony Wilkie was the beneficiary of the offense, needing just 3 1/3 innings on the mound to pick up his third win of the season while Hildreth threw 1 2/3 scoreless to finish things off.
Game two got started off on a much different foot for the Bucs as the first batter of the game doubled and one batter later the Hawks got a two run home run to take a quick 2-0 lead. They added another run later in the inning to take a 3-0 advantage before the Bucs got their first cracks at bat.
The Bucs got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning, taking advantage of a balk and a Hillsborough error to get back into the game at 3-2.
The Hawks scored for the second straight inning in the 2nd , padding their lead to 4-2.
Parker Burgess came in out of the Bucs bullpen and gave FSW a chance through the middle innings, posting three straight zeros to keep it at 4-2, but the Bucs offense couldn't get anything going as it remained a two run game into the 6th.
Hillsborough walked the bases loaded to set the table for the Bucs in the 6th and a pair of groundouts brought runs home and tied that game at 4.
Both teams left a runner in the 7th and the game moved along to the 8th with the score still tied at 4-4.
As Hillsborough did in the 6th, the Bucs giftwrapped a start to the inning for the Hawks in the 8th, walking two and hitting another batter to load the bases with two outs. A wild pitch, another hit batter and a bases loaded walk gave the Hawks a pair of runs without a ball being put in play and later in the inning a two run single and an FSW error padded the Hawks lead to 9-4 after 7 1/2.
The Bucs kept fighting as back to back extra base hits from Cris Walley and Quarles plated a run before a two out RBI single from Evan Taveras drew the Bucs back to within two at 9-7. Two more free passes loaded the bases for the Bucs, but a pop out ended the threat and left the tying and go ahead runs on base at inning's end.
Nicholas Lorenz punched out the side to give the Bucs a chance in the bottom of the 9th and Quarles second home run of the day, this one a solo shot to dead center got the Bucs back to within one at 9-8. Down to their final out and needing a run to send the game to extras, a routine ground ball to short ended things for FSW as the Hawks played catch and sealed a 9-8 win to salvage the series finale.
The Bucs outhit the Hawks in the loss with Quarles going 3-5 with three RBIs, missing the cycle by just a double in the contest. Andrew McLaughlin was collared with the loss, allowing two runs in 1 2/3 innings of work to fall to 1-1 on the year. Burgess, Lorenz, and Andy Hernandez combined for 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out 11 and not walking a batter.
The Bucs win the series with the Saturday split, moving to 11-3 overall on the year while Hillsborough sees their record go to 9-6.
The Bucs go on the road to take on defending NJCAA Division II Champions Pasco Hernando Tuesday on the road in New Port Richey before beginning a three game Citrus Conference series on Thursday against Polk State at 2 PM at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers.