MELBOURNE, Fla.- Eight players recorded multi-hit games as the #5 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers put on a clinic with the bats Thursday night under the lights at Bruce Bochy Field in Melbourne, defeating the Eastern Florida State Titans 15-9 to take the early lead in the three game Citrus Conference series between the two. 

 

Things didn't get off to the start the Bucs were looking for as two batters into the bottom of the 1^st the Titans already had a 2-0 lead and a two out walk and an error led to another Eastern Florida run to put FSW in an early 3-0 hole. 

 

The Bucs got right back in the game in the 2^nd as Nathan Fink and Devin Parks singled with one out and Anthony Ruocco drove them in to make it a 3-2 game after an inning and a half. 

 

FSW tied it up in the 3^rd as Carlos Sanchez reached on a fielder's choice and moved around to third on a Titan error before scoring on a groundout from Nik Pereira to even the score at 3. 

 

Another Bucs walk led to an Eastern run in the 3^rd as a freebie and back to back hits put the Titans back on top 4-3 after three. 

 

FSW quickly tied the score back up as Parks singled to start the FSW 4^th and scored on an RBI double from Ty Hamilton to make it a 4-4 game. Later in the inning Hamilton crossed the plate to put the Bucs back on top 5-4. 

 

Logan O'Leary came in out of the Bucs bullpen and gave them a big 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 4^th and the FSW offense carried their momentum into the top of the 5^th as Pereira launched a two run home run to push the lead to 7-4 before back to back RBI knocks from Hamilton and Ruocco opened things up to 9-4 for the Bucs. A two out walk allowed the inning to continue and the Bucs took advantage as Luke Orfi shot an RBI single the other way to give FSW five in the inning to give them a 10-4 lead midway through the contest. 

 

Eastern struck back in the 6^th as a leadoff walk and a dropped fly ball put two on with nobody out before a single loaded the bases still with no outs on the board. Back to back two run singles made it a game once again at 10-8 and another RBI single from the Titans brought them to within one at 10-9 after six. 

 

An RBI double from Jake Mueller in the 7^th cushioned the Bucs lead to 12-9 and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Parks in the 8^th made it a 13-9 contest. 

 

Josiah Velazquez put up a zero for the Bucs in the 8^th and they rewarded the southpaw with some insurance in the 9^th as a double steal and a double from Parks scored runs to cushion the lead to 15-9. 

 

That's the way it would end as Velazquez continued his heater with a scoreless 9^th to close things out as FSW took the series opener 15-9 over the Titans. 

 

The Bucs banged out 18 hits in the win with eight different players recording multiple hits in the contest.  Parks finished 3-5 with three runs scored and a pair of RBIs while Pereira accounted for six runs with three scored and three more knocked in. Ruocco was 2-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs at the top of the lineup while Hamilton was 2-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs at the bottom. 

 

Logan O'Leary earned his second win of the year on the mound, going two innings and allowing just one hit to improve to 2-0 while Nick Lorenz and Velazquez finished the game with three scoreless frames and five strikeouts. 

 

FSW improves to 25-7 overall and 11-5 in Citrus Conference play with the win while Eastern Florida drops to 18-13 overall and 7-9 in league play. 

 

The Bucs and Titans will determine a series winner on Saturday at Buccaneers Park in Fort Myers with a doubleheader slated to start at noon.