Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 FORT MYERS – For the first time since 2020, Polk State Baseball will finish with a losing record. The Eagles were swept on Saturday in a doubleheader at No. 11 Florida SouthWestern State College.

The day started with a heartbreaker. In a contest scheduled for seven innings, Florida SouthWestern State erased a three-run deficit in the seventh inning before walking it off in the eighth, 6-5.

Polk State led 5-2 entering the bottom of the seventh before the Buccaneers tied it up with three unearned runs. A fielding error started the rally. FSW was down to its last strike before Nik Pereira tied it with a two-run single. Michael McAloose won it with a walk-off single an inning later.

The Eagles raced to a 5-0 lead. Liam O'Neil got the scoring started in the first with an RBI double before coming around to score on a Simon Scharff RBI single. Scharff singled home Jordan Thomas in the third to push the lead to 3-0.

In the fourth inning, Zach Lester belted a two-run home run – his team-leading eighth – to extend the Eagles' lead to 5-0. FSW broke up the shutout with a pair of runs in the fifth.

On the mound, the Eagles got five good innings from Jake Echols, who allowed just two runs on six hits while fanning seven. Scharff had the only multi-hit game for Polk State.

Thomas and O'Neil each reached base four times. Thomas scored twice. Jake Mueller and Nathan Fink each finished with a pair of hits for FSW.

Highlights were few and far between for Polk State in the second game. The Buccaneers needed just five innings to roll to a 12-0 win.
 
Luke Orfi's two-run home run highlighted a five-run first inning and FSW never looked back. Runs in the second and fourth innings bookended a five-run third.
 
Thomas finished with two of the four hits for Polk State. Orfi finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs.
 
Polk State finishes the season with a record of 27-28 and 14-19 in Citrus Conference play. With the wins, FSW clinched a share of the Citrus Conference championship.