MELBOURNE,
Fla. (March 31, 2006) ' After dropping the first run of the game in
the bottom of the first to the Florida Tech Panthers, the Rollins
College Tars had their bats come alive in the later innings and
came away with a 2-1 victory on Friday afternoon in Melbourne.
Sophomore Ingrid Schumacher knocked a double to the center field
fence scoring senior Kelly Cruz from second base, giving the Tars
the go ahead run in the top of the seventh. The Tars defense held
strong in the bottom of the seventh, sealing the victory. With the
win, Rollins improves to 31-8 on the season and 9-4 in the Sunshine
State Conference while the Panthers fall to 23-11 and 10-6 in the
conference.
'
Florida
Tech opened the game with a fury, getting two hits and one run in
the bottom of the first. Katie Naumoff reached on an error by the
Tars and then Megan Hube doubled to center field scoring Naumoff,
giving the Panthers the 1-0 lead.
'
Through
the middle innings, the pitchers on both teams controlled the
tempo. Panthers' pitcher Amber West allowed only five hits without
walking a single batter and struck out 11 in seven innings of work.
Freshman Nicole Anderson (Brandon, Fla.) started the game for the
Tars and in two innings, gave up four hits and one unearned run.
Schumacher (Naples, Fla.) came on in the third and surrendered five
hits and one walk but did not allow any runs.
'
The
Tars started to gain the momentum in the game during the top of the
sixth inning, when junior Amanda DeFilippo (Winter Springs, Fla.)
doubled to center field, followed by a Devon Kontos (Orlando, Fla.)
single up the middle. After a Jennifer Olsen (Winter Haven, Fla.)
bunt to advance Kontos to second, DeFilippo scored on a passed
ball, tying the game at one.
'
After
allowing the Panthers to get two base runners in the bottom of the
sixth, Schumacher got Naumoff to fly out to center field, stranding
the runners on second and third, keeping the game tied. Cruz
(Winter Springs, Fla.) then opened the seventh with her double and
with two out, Schumacher doubled Cruz home for the go ahead
run.
'
The
Tars and the Panthers will return to the field on Saturday, April 1
for a double header. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in
Melbourne, Fla.
