WINTER PARK , Fla. (April 1, 2006) The Rollins baseball team
narrowly missed an opportunity to get to .500 in Sunshine State
Conference play on Saturday. The Tars (21-14, 5-7) split a Saturday
double header with Florida Tech winning the first 7-0 and dropping
the second 5-1. The Tars won the series 2-1, it was the second
Sunshine State Conference series win on the season for the Tars.
Senior starting pitcher Eduardo Chile pitched outstanding in the
first game. Chile pitched a complete game one hit shutout for his
fourth victory. The Tars couldn't get the bats going in the second
game, managing just five hits against Panther starter Brett Backman
over seven innings.
'
In
the first game, the Tars were led offensively by junior third
baseman Gene Howard. Howard went 2-5 with two runs scored, a
triple, a homer, and three runs batted in. Freshman outfielder
Anthony Soto put up some good numbers as well. Soto went 2-5 with
two runs scored, a homer of his own, and two runs batted in. Junior
shortstop Ryan McKenzie went 3-5 on the day with a RBI. And
sophomore designated hitter Stephen Mannenbach went 1-2 with a RBI
and two walks.
'
Eduardo Chile was nearly un-hittable for the Tars. Chile pitched
his first complete game shutout of the year and his fourth of his
career. It was also his ninth career complete game. Chile gave up
just one hit on the day while striking out seven and walking two.
The senior right hander used his pitches very efficiently, getting
the anxious Panthers to swing early in counts. He threw just 92
pitches in nine innings of work.
'
Both
teams were quiet and scoreless through the first four and a half
innings. Both Chile and the Panthers' starter, Mike Succio, cruised
through the preliminary frames with relative ease. The Tars were
the first to draw blood when they struck for three runs on five
hits in the bottom of the fifth. Anthony Soto drove in Jesse More
with a RBI single. Gene Howard added an explanation point with a
two run shot to right center a few pitches later.
'
Florida Tech had their best chance against Chile in the sixth. The
Panthers loaded the bases with two walks and a Tars throwing error.
But with two outs, Chile was able to induce a weak ground out to
third from clean-up hitter Devin Hopkins to end the threat.
'
The
Tars would add some insurance in the bottom of the seventh with two
more runs on three hits. Soto began the inning with his third homer
of the season to deep right. Howard followed with a triple down the
right field line. He would later score on a Steve Mannenbach sac
fly. The Tars added some more gas to the fire in the eighth with
two more runs and would take the game 7-0.
'
Rollins couldn't get the same explosive offense in the second game.
No one on the team recorded multiple hits. Sophomore first baseman
Stefano Foggi drove in the team's only run on a ground out to the
third baseman. Senior outfielder Brent Magnuson went 1-2 with a run
scored and a walk.
'
Junior starting pitcher Mario Lombardo went five innings giving up
five runs only three of which were earned on six hits.
'
The
game started ominously when Lombardo walked the lead-off man, Bryan
Stanton. Stanton would eventually come around to score on a one out
triple by Jon Baksh. Baksh would also score in the inning on a RBI
ground out. The Tars didn't get many opportunities against Panther
starter Brett Backman. The sophomore threw a complete game giving
up just one run on five hits while striking out three.
'
The
Tars broke through against Backman for a run in the bottom of the
fourth on a RBI ground out by Stefano Foggi which scored Brent
Magnuson. But the Panthers answered right back with three more runs
in the top of the fifth and would go on to win it 5-1.
'
The Tars will be back in
action on Tuesday, April 4 when they will travel to Daytona Beach
to take on Embry Riddle University . First pitch is scheduled for
7:00 pm.
