Late Surge Lifts Bucs Into FCSAA Championship Game
It took them a little bit to get going, but once the #1 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers did, they were rolling, scoring nine runs in the final three innings of a 9-1 run rule win over the #11 Eastern Florida State Titans to punch their ticket to the 2026 FCSAA Championship Game Friday against #2 Northwest Florida State.
CLEARWATER, Fla.- It took them a little bit to get going, but once the #1 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers did, they were rolling, scoring nine runs in the final three innings of a 9-1 run rule win over the #11 Eastern Florida State Titans to punch their ticket to the 2026 FCSAA Championship Game Friday against #2 Northwest Florida State.
FSW starter Zoe Yzaguirre got the Bucs off to a good start, mowing through the Titans order the first time through to keep the game scoreless through 2 ½.
The Bucs took advantage of some shaky defense by the Titans in the bottom of the 3rd to strike first as an error, a walk, and a sacrifice bunt from Kaitlyn Klismith put two runners in scoring position before Noelani Livingstone lined a single the other way to drive home both runners to put FSW ahead 2-0. Later in the inning a sac fly from Giorgiana Woods drove home Livingstone from third and just like that the Bucs lead 3-0 after three complete innings of action.
After two quick outs in the top of the 4th, the Titans finally showed some life as a single up the middle gave them their first baserunner of the contest and a double behind that brought the run in to break up the Bucs shutout and make it a 3-1 game.
The Bucs answered with some two out magic of their own in the bottom of the 4th as Thaima Maximiliana stayed hot with a bouncing single up the middle to bring home a run and Klismith followed that with a bullet back up the middle to drive her home and make it 5-1 FSW. They weren't done yet as Noelani Livingstone smoked a ground ball into the left field corner and motored all the way around the bases for an inside the park home run to extend the Bucs lead to 7-1 at the end of four.
After finishing the 4th inning in the circle, Charlotte Graham worked a quick 1-2-3 top of the 5th, needing just 11 pitches to do so to keep it a 7-1 game in favor of FSW.
A one out walk to Bente Zwanenburg got the Bucs going in the bottom of the 5th and back to back pinch hit singles from Hailey Turner and Megan Veilleux brought a run home to push the lead to 8-1. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position with one out and Lizzy Kwakernaak brought Turner home from third with a ground ball to second to kick in the run rule for the Bucs as FSW took the game 9-1 to march onto the title game.
The Bucs outhit the Titans 9-2 in the win with seven different players recording a knock for the Purple and Aqua. Livingstone led the way, going 2-3 with her 4th inning inside the park homer and three RBIs while Maximiliana and Klismith continued to set the table at the top of the order, combining for three hits, three runs scored, and a pair of RBIs for the Bucs. Yzaguirre earned the win in the circle, going 3 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and one run to improve to 18-2 on the year while Graham earned her second save of the season with 1 1/3 perfect frames to close things out.
FSW runs their winning streak to 28 including 10 of the last 12 coming against Top 25 ranked foes. The Bucs improve to 53-5 on the year while Eastern Florida falls to 42-16.
The Bucs advance to the FCSAA Championship game Friday looking for their third title in the past four seasons. They will take on #2 Northwest Florida State in a rematch of the 2025 NJCAA National Championship game at 4 PM with a trip to the World Series on the line.
