February 27, 2025
Yzaguirre/Meyer Spin Shutouts Against #10 Seminole
The #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers managed just four runs in their doubleheader against the #10 Seminole State Raiders Thursday afternoon at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers, but that is all they would need as pitchers Zoe Yzaguirre and Leah Meyer combined to allow the Raiders just five hits in 16 scoreless innings as FSW won 1-0 and 3-0 to sweep the twinbill and improve to 18-0 on the year.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #2 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers managed just four runs in their doubleheader against the #10 Seminole State Raiders Thursday afternoon at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers, but that is all they would need as pitchers Zoe Yzaguirre and Leah Meyer combined to allow the Raiders just five hits in 16 scoreless innings as FSW won 1-0 and 3-0 to sweep the twinbill and improve to 18-0 on the year.
If you were looking for runs, Buccaneers Park was not the place to be for game one of the doubleheader between the #2 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers and the #10 Seminole State Raiders as a pair of undefeated pitchers in FSW's Zoe Yzaguirre and Seminole's Shaylen Byrd locked up in a pitchers' duel.
After a 1-2-3 first inning for both sides, Seminole had the game's first scoring chance as they put a pair on in the top of the 2nd , but Yzaguirre went upstairs for a big strikeout to end the threat and keep the game scoreless after an inning and a half.
Seminole handed the Bucs the bases loaded in the 2nd with a pair of walks and a hit batter, but two looking strikeouts and a ground out to third ended the threat and kept it a 0-0 game after two.
The Raiders collected the first hit of the game for either side to begin the 4th but couldn't turn it into anything and the Bucs went down in order for the second straight frame in the bottom half to keep the game scoreless.
Yzaguirre and Byrd continued to match zeroes to the 7th when Yzaguirre dug into the tank and fired yet another 1-2-3 frame to give the Bucs a chance to walk it off in the bottom half.
Virginia Mambelli broke up Byrd's no hit bid to lead off the 7th and Katey McGee pinch ran for her and got to third after a sacrifice bunt and a groundout to put her 60 feet away from winning it for the Bucs. But this one wasn't destined to end in seven as a pop out ended the threat and sent the game to extra innings still scoreless.
Seminole had a golden opportunity to get on the board in the top of the 8th as a single and an FSW error put a runner in scoring position with nobody out. A sac bunt moved the runner to third, but Yzaguirre got two straight pop ups on the infield to get out of the jam and send it to the bottom of the 8th .
The Bucs looked like they were in business themselves in the bottom of the 8th as Puk de Groot pinch hit and delivered a double to the wall in left, but a perfect relay from the Raiders nailed her at third and erased the leadoff baserunner for FSW. Later in the inning Noelani Livingstone singled through the right side, but she would be stranded at inning's end to send the game to a 9th inning scoreless.
Seminole put their leadoff hitter on for the second straight inning in the 9th with a double to the wall in center, but that runner wouldn't move from there as Yzaguirre got a pair of pop ups and a strikeout to extinguish the fire and keep things scoreless as the game went to the bottom of the 9th.
Skylar Brennan started the Bucs 9th with a shot the other way for a leadoff single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Mambelli hit a bullet back up the middle off of Bryd, but she recovered to make the play at first while Brennan advanced to third for FSW. Up stepped Nicole Edmiaston who wasted little time in ripping a single back up the middle to bring home Brennan and start the celebration and give the Bucs a 1-0 walk off win in nine.
The game featured just nine total hits in nine innings, five for FSW and four for Seminole. Yzaguirre was the story, firing a nine inning complete game shutout, allowing just four hits and not walking a batter on 106 pitches. She struck out five and remained unbeaten at 6-0 on the year in the circle for the Bucs.
Leah Meyer took the ball in the circle for the Bucs in game two and followed Yzaguirre's lead, putting up a pair of goose eggs to start the contest to keep the game scoreless through an inning and a half of action.
The Bucs didn't wait as long in game two to get the scoring going as Edmiaston drilled a solo home run out to left to get the 2nd started to give FSW an early 1-0 advantage.
Meyer worked her second straight 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 3rd and the Bucs offense padded her lead as after back to back bunt singles to start the inning, another bunt and subsequent throwing error on the Raiders allowed both runs to score and FSW to grow their lead to 3-0 after three.
The Bucs wouldn't score again, but it didn't matter as Meyer was dialed in, retiring 19 straight Raider batters after the leadoff single in the 1st, holding the Bucs 3-0 lead all the way to the 7th.
A one out error in the top of the 7th gave Seminole some hope, but again Meyer was up to the task, getting a groundout back to herself in the circle for the second out before getting a rollover to third to finish it off as she sealed up a 3-0 shutout win for FSW in game two.
Meyer was outstanding in the win, retiring 21 of the 23 hitters she faced in the contest. She allowed just one hit while striking out four and worked through her seven innings on just 63 total pitches to improve to 4-0 on the year.
FSW continues their perfect start to the 2025 season at 18-0 while taking the top spot in the Citrus Conference standings at 4-0. Seminole suffers their first back to back losses of the season as they drop to 17-4 overall and 2-2 in league action.
The Bucs are back in action on Saturday at home at Buccaneers Park in another big matchup as they host #13 Daytona State in a 1 PM doubleheader.