March 24, 2023
Tucker Leads #2 FSW Past Sharks & Hawks
Shenita Tucker recorded five hits and five RBIs as the #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers raced past the Miami Dade Sharks and the Hillsborough Hawks in a split doubleheader Friday afternoon in Tampa. The Bucs took care of Miami Dade 12-0 in five in the first game before taking care of Hillsborough 9-4 in the nightcap for their 22nd straight victory.
TAMPA, Fla.- Shenita Tucker recorded five hits and five RBIs as the #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers raced past the Miami Dade Sharks and the Hillsborough Hawks in a split doubleheader Friday afternoon in Tampa. The Bucs took care of Miami Dade 12-0 in five in the first game before taking care of Hillsborough 9-4 in the nightcap for their 22nd straight victory.
After sweeping a doubleheader from Miami Dade Wednesday in Fort Myers, the Bucs wasted no time in jumping on the Sharks right away on Friday in Tampa as a perfectly executed double steal followed by an RBI groundout from Sydney McCray put FSW up 2-0 right away after one inning of play.
The Bucs blew it open in the 2nd as Shenita Tucker drove a pair home with a single through the hole on the right side and a single later in the inning from Laura Vigna scored two and made it 8-0 FSW. D'Yani McKinley walked with the bases loaded to force home another run, giving the Bucs seven in the inning and a 9-0 lead after two innings of action.
Belle Sardja worked a 1-2-3 top of the 3rd for the Bucs and they added to their lead in the bottom half as McCray knocked in Tucker who doubled to start the inning to make it 10-0 FSW after three.
Guilia Bancora and Jennifer Battiste drove in runs for the Bucs in the 4th and Sardja got three straight groundouts in the top of the 5th to finish off her shutout as FSW took the game 12-0 in a five inning run rule.
The Bucs outhit the Sharks 10-1 in the win as Tucker led the way with a perfect 3-3 effort with a pair of doubles, two RBIs, and three runs scored. McCray added three RBIs in three trips to the plate in the middle of the Bucs order. Sardja spun a complete game one-hitter, needing just 42 pitches to improve to 13-1 on the season and lower her ERA to a microscopic 0.53.
The Bucs carried their momentum right over into their next game as they took on old Suncoast Conference rival Hillsborough. FSW was on the board right away once again as Jaden Goodwin, McKinley, and Tucker each ripped RBI singles in the top of the 2nd to put the Bucs up 4-0 to get things going.
Caroline Figueroa doubled to start the FSW 3rd and she scored when Laura Vigna lifted a sacrifice fly to right to make it a 5-0 ballgame.
Hillsborough got on the scoreboard with a pair of singles in the 3rd, but Bucs starter Kylee Graham limited the damage to one and kept FSW in front 5-1 at the end of three.
The bucs got that run back and then some in their next at bats as Tucker drove home her third run of the game and Carys Platt added another to make it 7-1 Bucs before Goodwin ripped her second RBI single of the contest to stretch the lead to seven.
Hillsborough made a push to get back into the game in the 5th as they cashed in three straight singles for a run before a groundout brought another in to make it 8-3. After a walk put two on with one out, a single back up the middle gave them a three run frame and had them back to within striking distance at 8-4 at the end of five.
Tucker remained red hot with a bunt single to start the FSW 6th and she came around to score on an RBI single from McCray to cushion the Bucs lead back to 9-4.
The Hawks made some noise in the 7th in their last ditch effort for an upset, but Lea Chevrier came in out of the Bucs bullpen to close things out with a pair of strikeouts to give FSW a 9-4 win.
The game featured 20 hits, 11 for FSW and 9 for Hillsborough. Tucker finished 2-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored while Figueroa had a pair of hits, both doubles, and Goodwin was 2-3 with two RBIs. Graham went four innings to earn the win and improve to 9-0 in the circle this season before giving the ball to Samantha Smith who threw two shutout innings out of the bullpen.
Allowing four runs in the win stopped a streak of 18 straight games for FSW allowing two runs or less.
The Bucs have now won 22 games in a row to go to 33-3 overall on the season.
The Bucs will put that win streak on the line on Wednesday when they make the trip to Melbourne to take on Eastern Florida State in their first Southern Conference road doubleheader beginning at 2 PM.