"I would have loved to have played better in the first game on our field, but FSW is a good club," said head coach Tim Hill II. "Anytime you take two out of three games in the series, we'll take it and the guys responded well in the second game to prove it. They battled the whole way."

 

"I think overall we did pretty well," said sophomore Santiago Ordonez. "I thought our guys face some good adversity today and we battled throughout every single game."

 

"I felt like our pitching didn't have our stuff like they normally do," said sophomore Jalen Hairston. "Nevertheless, we had a guy come out of the pen and close the game out. Our hitters are starting to come together and have some timely hits and we're starting to play as a team."

 

"The bats came alive at the perfect time," said sophomore Luis Garrido. "We did a good job closing it out in the end."

 

Game One:

Hill II sent sophomore Ed Wagner (2-2, 4.75 ERA) to start game one, while FSW head coach Zach Cole went with redshirt freshman Jordan Huskey (3-1, 2.00 ERA) to counter.

 

After the first inning went scoreless, the Manatees would get on the board first in the bottom of the second as Ordonez would send a solo home run to right-center for his first collegiate home run.

 

"All I wanted to do was get something in play to get the next man up," said Ordonez on his first home run. "I got a really good barrel on it and it did the job for me."

 

The Buccaneers would tie the game at 1-1 at the top of the third after sophomore Justin Thomas would hit a solo homer to center for his third of the season. The Manatees would respond back in the bottom of the third as freshman Allan Gil-Fernandez would send a single to left to bring in sophomore Erick Almonte to make it 2-1 SCF.

 

At the top of the fourth, the Buccaneers would then take advantage of the game redshirt freshman Nik Pereria would score on a fielding error before sophomore Victor Figueroa would send a grand slam homer to left for his ninth of the season.

 

The Buccaneers would increase the lead to 7-2 at the top of the sixth as redshirt freshman Cooper Clapp would send a leadoff home run to right for his first of the season before they increased the lead to 11-2 after sophomore Nate Earley hit a solo home run to right for his seventh of the season, redshirt freshman Eric Blair hit a sacrifice fly and Clapp scored on a wild pitch.

 

The Manatees would try to fight back in the bottom of the seventh as sophomore Preston Wetherell would hit a pinch hit leadoff solo home run to left for his first of the season. After Almonte (reached on error), Hairston (walk) and Gil-Fernandez (walk) loaded the bases, Ordonez would then send a double to left-center to bring in Almonte and Hairston, but it would be all the Manatees could produce as the Buccaneers would take the first game.

 

Despite a valiant fight, Wagner would fall to 2-3 after giving up six runs (two earned) on five hits with two walk and nine strikeouts in five innings. Freshman Daniel Hartley would give up five runs (two earned) on four hits with one strikeout in one and two-thirds innings of relief, while classmate Aidan McBride threw one-third of a scoreless inning with one walk.

 

Huskey would 4-1 after gibing up two runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts in six innings.

 

Ordonez would lead the way in hitting and offense in game as he went 2-for-3 with three RBI and one walk.

 

Gil-Fernandez (1-for-2, one RBI and two walks), Garrido (1-for-3) and Wetherell (1-for-1, one home run) had the remaining three hits, while Almonte (two runs and a stolen base) and Hairston (one run and one walk) also contributed in the game.

 

Redshirt freshman Michael McAloose lead the way in hitting as he went 2-for-4 with a run, while Figueroa lead the way in offense as he went 1-for-4 with a grand slam and a stolen base.

 

Game Two:

Looking to take the rubber match, Hill II sent freshman Palmer O'Beirne (4-0, 3.14 ERA) to start game two while Cole went with sophomore Reyn Watson (1-0, 4.42 ERA).

 

The Manatees would once again get on the board first in the bottom of the first as Almonte would showoff his power with a leadoff home run to left for his first of the season. One inning later, Almonte would draw a bases loaded walk to bring in Ordonez to make it 2-0 SCF.

 

The Buccaneers would respond at the top of the third as Figueroa would tie the game with two-run shot for his 10th of the season and second home run in the doubleheader.

 

The Manatees would then take the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Almonte would send a sacrifice fly to left to bring in Garrido. The Bucaneeers would tie the game at 3-3 at the top of the fifth redshirt sophomore Luca Danos would send a leadoff solo home run to left for his fifth of the season.

 

The Manatees would then regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth beginning with a one-out double by freshman Pip Smalley. After Ordonez was hit by a pitch and saw both runners advance to scoring position on balk, freshman Luke Boykin would ground out to bring in Smalley before Garrido hit an infield single to the pitcher to bring in Ordonez and make it 5-3 SCF.

 

The Buccaneers would cut the lead to 5-4 at the top of the sixth after Blair was hit by a pitch to bring in the run. One inning later, sophomore Jared Davis would tie the game at 5-5 after with an RBI. Figueroa would showoff his bat and give the Buccaneers the lead as the reigning NJCAA Player of the Week would hit a bases-loaded two-run single to left to make it 7-5 FSW.

 

In the bottom of the seventh, the Manatees would put together a big rally to try to take the lead. After Ordonez (single), Boykin (walk) and Garrido (hit by pitch) loaded the bases, freshman Hayden Gustavson would then reach first on fielding error while Ordonez scored before Almonte tied the game at 7-7 after drawing a bases loaded walk to bring in Boykin.

 

All eyes turned to Hairston on a 1-0 count who struggled during the last two weeks and was 0-for-4 in the game. With grit and determination, the upcoming transfer for the University of Kentucky sent a towering shot to right over Carol's Corner for his first collegiate grand slam and his fifth home run of the season.

 

"Baseball is a game of adjustments and I was struggling the last two weeks, but you always get another at-bat at the plate," said Hairston on the grand slam. "I came up to the plate and got a good pitch to hit and it was good."

 

"That was a big hit for sure for Jalen," said Hill II on Hairston's grand slam. "For him to get that big hit in the moment was amazing."

 

After Smalley drew a walk, Ordonez would send a double to right to bring in Smalley and make it 12-7 SCF. They would add their final run in the bottom of the eighth as Gustavson would bring in Garrido to make it 13-7 before freshman Trevor Zeigler finished the ninth to seal the series for the Manatees.

 

O'Beirne and Watson would both earn no-decision in the game. O'Beirne gave up three runs on five hits with five walks and five strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings, while Watston gave up two runs (one earned) on one hit with three walks and three strikeouts in two innings.

 

Smalley would earn his first win of the season after throwing two-thirds of a scoreless inning of relief with one walk and one strikeout. He was also 1-for-4 with two runs and a walk.

 

Redshirt freshman Brandon Gonsalves would fall to 3-1 after giving up four runs (three earned) on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

 

Three Manatees had a multi-hit game. It was Garrido that lead the way in hitting as he went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two stolen bases.

 

"While my swing wasn't as clean at first," said Garrido. "I was fighting and was able to get hits after making some adjustments."

 

Almonte would be one of the leaders in offense as he finished 2-for-3 with four RBI, two walks, two runs and two stolen bases, while Ordonez rounded out the order finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI, three runs and a walk and Hairston would follow Almonte in RBI as he finished 1-for-5 with four RBI.

 

Sophomore Jayce Blalock (1-for-2, one walk) had the remaining hit for the Manatees, while Gustavson (one run and two RBI; two-thirds of an inning of relief), Zeigler (two scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts), Gil-Fernandez (one walk), Boykin (one run, one RBI and one walk) and sophomore Bryan Gomez (one inning of relief with two strikeouts) also contributed in the game.

 

For the Buccaneers, Figueroa and Earley lead the way in hitting as they each went 3-for-4 at the plate. Figueroa lead the way with four RBI.

 

Other Citrus Conference Scores:

Indian River State (16-7, 8-4 Citrus) swept their doubleheader against Eastern Florida State (13-12-1, 5-7 Citrus) winning by scores of 9-4 and 10-4 to earn a full sweep.

 

Seminole State College of Florida (16-10, 5-7 Citrus) split with Central Florida (15-11, 6-6 Citrus) in their doubleheader losing game one 6-7 before winning game two 18-13 to take the series.

 

Polk State (16-14, 6-6 Citrus) completed their sweep over Hillsborough (15-12, 5-7 Citrus) winning their doubleheader by scores of 6-3 and 8-2.

 

Santa Fe (15-11, 6-6) split their series to defeat Miami Dade (13-13, 7-5 Citrus) losing game one 6-1 before winning the rubber match in game two by a score of 8-5.

 

Citrus Conference Standings:

1. #17 Florida Southwestern (18-8, 9-3)

2. Indian River State (16-7, 8-4)

3. SCF (17-9, 7-5)

4. Miami Dade (13-13, 7-5)

5. Central Florida (15-11, 6-6)

6. Santa Fe (15-11, 6-6)

7. Polk State (16-14, 6-6)

8. Seminole State College of Florida (16-10, 5-7)

9. Hillsborough (15-12, 5-7)

10. Eastern Florida State (13-12-1, 5-7)

11. Daytona State (12-12, 4-8)

12. St. Pete (9-15, 4-8)

 

Up Next:

The Manatees will host non-conference play against a conference opponent at Wynn Field as they welcome St. Pete (9-15, 4-8 Citrus) Monday night, March 11 at 6 pm. Bryan Gomez (2-0, 4.93 ERA) will be given the nod to start the game.