May 26, 2022
Bucs Drop Walk off Heartbreaker in NJCAA Quarters
Just two outs away from clinching their trip to the NJCAA National Tournament winners bracket final, the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were stunned as the #5 Odessa Wranglers took advantage of their first and only real scoring chance of the game, getting a two run single in the bottom of the 7th to walk the Bucs off 2-1 and send FSW to the elimination bracket for the final three days of the tournament.
YUMA, Az.- Just two outs away from clinching their trip to the NJCAA National Tournament winners bracket final, the #1 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were stunned as the #5 Odessa Wranglers took advantage of their first and only real scoring chance of the game, getting a two run single in the bottom of the 7th to walk the Bucs off 2-1 and send FSW to the elimination bracket for the final three days of the tournament.
Through their first two games of the NJCAA National Tournament, the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers had yet to yield a run while the Odessa Wranglers had given up just one, so predicting a pitcher's duel Thursday was not hard to do.
Both teams went down in order in the 1st and FSW got the game's first hit in the 2nd, but left the runner stranded as the contest flew through the first two innings scoreless in a swift 18 minutes.
FSW left another runner on in the 3rd while Buccaneer starter Belle Sardja remained in control in the circle in the bottom half of the frame, striking out a pair in her third straight 1-2-3 inning to keep it a 0-0 game to the 4th.
Back to back walks and a successful double steal in the 4th put the Bucs in business for the first time in the game, but two straight strikeouts ended the threat and the inning keeping it a scoreless deadlock at the end of four.
FSW had another scoring chance in the 5th as Carys Platt legged out a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, but again, the Bucs couldn't come through with the big hit and back to back pop outs brought the inning to a close without FSW getting on the board.
Sardja stayed dialed in in the 5th, working yet another three up, three down inning to keep the game scoreless after five.
The Bucs had another golden scoring opportunity in the 6th as Feline Poot walked to leadoff the inning and swiped second with one out to put herself in scoring position. It looked like FSW was going to break the deadlock as McKenzie Wittenberg ripped a shot back up the middle, but an outstanding defensive play by the Odessa second baseman turned what looked like an RBI single into an inning ending double play to douse the Bucs fire.
For the fourth consecutive inning, the Bucs put their leadoff hitter on in the 7th as Charlotte Drijvers was hit by a pitch and they later loaded the bases after back to back walks with one out. They were finally able to push a run across as Laura Vigna lifted a sacrifice fly to deep enough left field to allow pinch runner Camille Graham to score to make it 1-0 and it looked like FSW might get more as Shenita Tucker gave one a ride one batter later, but another stellar defensive play by the Wranglers limited the damage to one as the teams went to the bottom of the 7th.
Odessa had their first and only real scoring chance in the bottom of the 7th as they got back to back singles to start the inning and moved the runners into scoring position with one out after a sacrifice bunt. Just two outs away from a win, victory was ripped out of the hands of the Bucs one batter later as a single up the middle plated both the tying and the winning run, giving the Wranglers a 2-1 walk off victory and sending the Bucs home with their first loss in the National Tournament in their past two trips to the desert.
The game featured just six hits, four for Odessa and two for FSW. Neither team had an extra base hit. Sardja was the tough luck loser, going the distance in the circle, allowing four hits and two runs, while striking out six, falling to 12-3 on the year.
FSW drops to 51-6 on the season with the loss while Odessa improves to 55-5.
The Bucs fall to the elimination bracket where they will take on the winner of the #2 Yavapai/#4 Seminole State game Thursday night at 9:00 PM (EDT) while Odessa advances to the winners bracket final to take on McLennan Friday.