Posted: Apr 26, 2025
FORT MYERS, Fla.- April 26, 2025 will not be a day that is soon forgotten by Florida SouthWestern Buccaneer fans as after celebrating their 14 sophomores playing their final regular season games as Bucs before the start of their doubleheader with the Polk State Eagles, and watching the Bucs Softball team clinch their ninth straight Conference Title next door at Buccaneers Park, the Bucs nailed down their first Citrus Conference Championship in program history with a dramatic late game comeback and ensuing walk off win in game one before crushing the Eagles in game two to clinch the title and start the celebration.
#11 FSW entered the doubleheader needing a pair of wins to claim a Conference Championship and Polk State came in with their season coming to a close at day's end regardless of the results. Things got off to a bit of an inauspicious start for the Bucs as the Eagles came out swinging, ripping a pair of doubles and getting two two out RBI knocks in the top of the 1st to jump in front of FSW early 2-0.
The Bucs defense was sharp in the 2nd as catcher Nik Pereira gunned out a runner trying to steal and their middle infield spun a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and keep it a 2-0 game.
Polk added to their lead in the 3rd , using a one out walk and a two out single to left to drive home a run and extend their advantage to 3-0.
The Bucs offense remained ice cold in the bottom of the inning as the Eagles struck out the side and kept it a 3-0 game in favor of Polk State.
The Bucs looked like they were in trouble as a two run home run for Polk in the 4th extended their lead to 5-0 and it wasn't until back to back two out RBI knocks from Brock Knoerr and Jake Mueller in the 5th got them on the board and trimmed the Eagle lead to 5-2.
FSW couldn't maintain the momentum into the 6th as three lazy fly balls retired them in order and sent the game to the 7th to the Bucs trailing 5-2.
The Bucs caught a break to start the bottom of the 7th as a routine ground ball to second base turned into a Polk State error to give FSW an extra shot at tying it up. A second Polk error allowed a run to score and a walk put the tying run on base with nobody out for the Purple and Aqua. A sacrifice bunt by the Bucs put both runners in scoring position with one out, but a shallow pop out to right left the runners there with now two outs in the inning. Down to their final out of the game and trailing by two, Nik Pereira legged out an infield single on a ground ball to short to plate one and Devin Parks motored all the way around from second on the play to score and tie the game at 5 and send the game to extras.
Nicholas Lorenz came in out of the FSW bullpen in the 8th and blew through the Eagle lineup in order on just 14 pitches setting up the Bucs for a walk off opportunity in the bottom of the frame.
Fink started the inning with a solid single back up the middle and Alex Kuenzle pinch ran for him and trotted to second when Luke Orfi was hit by a pitch to put him in second position with nobody out. That brought up Thursday's star, Michael McAloose who had the go ahead RBI in the 8th inning of a tie game in a 7-4 FSW win and the super sophomore did it again, smacking a single back through the box, bringing a sliding Kuenzle home to walk it off for the Bucs 6-5.
It was a 10 hit attack for the Bucs who scored six unanswered runs for the win after being down 5-0 early. Mueller and Fink had two hits each while Pereira drove in a pair and Anthony Ruocco had a hit and scored twice. Five FSW relievers combined for four scoreless innings of relief with Lorenz earning the win with a 1-2-3 top of the 8th to improve to 6-1 on the year.
Controlling their own destiny for a Conference Championship, the Bucs came out swinging in the 1st in game two as Fink plated a pair with an RBI single to left and after a wild pitch made it 3-0 Bucs, Orfi teed off on his sixth homer of the year, a two run shot to left to make it 5-0 FSW at the end of one inning of play.
Bucs starter Cole Greer fired a 1-2-3 top of the 2nd, striking out a pair and the Bucs tacked on another run in the bottom of the inning on a sac fly from Mueller to make it a 6-0 game.
Greer punched out the side in the 3rd to keep the Bucs comfortably in front and the Bucs made that a little more comfortable in the bottom of the inning, scoring five times, highlighted by RBI singles from Orfi, Parks, and Ruocco to blow the game open to 11-0.
Greer exited after four scoreless innings and FSW added a run in the 4th on a McAloose two out RBI single to bump the lead to 12-0 at the end of four complete.
Brandon Eldridge came in to pitch the 5th for the Bucs and worked around a one out single to keep the shutout intact, finishing off the game in a 12-0 run rule win for FSW to clinch their first Citrus Conference Championship.
Gatorade baths weren't hard to find on the turf at Buccaneers Park after the final out as the Bucs came together on the pitcher's mound to celebrate their first Citrus Conference Title and first Conference Championship overall since the 2022 season.
Greer threw four shutout innings, striking out a career high 8 to earn the win and improve to 4-2 on the year. The Bucs offense finished with nine hits with the bottom of the order carrying the load in the clincher. Orfi finished 2-3 with a homer and three RBIs while Fink and Parks drove home two a piece. McAloose was 2-2 with a run scored and an RBI, reaching base in all three plate appearances.
The Bucs finish the regular season 39-13 overall and win their fourth Conference Championship in program history with a 24-9 mark in Citrus Conference play. Polk State closes a disappointing campaign 27-28 overall and misses the playoffs for the first time since 2019 with a 14-19 mark in league play.
The calendar turns to the postseason next for FSW as the Bucs host the Fort Myers Regional portion of the FCSAA Championships next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers. As the Citrus Conference Champs, the Bucs will be either the number one or number two seed for the Tournament which will be announced on Wednesday.
