WINTER PARK, Fla. (April 29, 2007) ' With the
score tied and bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, junior
Rachel Almengual sent a rocket up the middle that went off the
pitcher's glove and trickled into centerfield, plating Lauren
Starcher and giving Rollins a dramatic 2-1 victory over Tampa on
Sunday. The Tars (37-14, 12-9 SSC) will now head into next
weekend's final regular season series at Barry in contention for a
spot in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament. The loss ends
Tampa's season with a record of 29-20, 14-10 SSC.
Sherri Rabenold batted 3-5 with a run scored and stolen base to
lead the Rollins offense. Starcher went 2-3 with a run scored while
Almengual and Jamie Rausch each tallied a hit. Nicole Anderson
stuck out 10 and scattered 11 hits with one walk to pick up the
victory for the Tars.
Kelly Glover led the Spartans, going 3-4 while Sam Becker and
Jessica Tejas each recorded two hits. Devlin Dougherty suffered the
loss, surrendering seven hits and two runs, one earned with five
walks and seven strikeouts.
Rabenold led off the Rollins third with a single, stole second,
and was sacrificed over to third by Almengual, before scoring on a
Stacy Sanders RBI to make the score 1-0. UT quickly tied things up
in the sixth as Becker led off the frame with a homer to
centerfield.
Rollins had a chance to end it in the bottom of the seventh with
the bases loaded and two outs. Amanda DeFilippo sent a shot into
the right-center gap, but Spartans rightfielder Jessica Keefe
tracked it down and make a running, snow cone catch to send the
game into extra frames. Tampa threatened in the top of the eight,
but Rausch gunned down Meredith Morris at the plate for the third
out.
Starcher led off the Tars' eighth with a single and moved to
second on a Devon Kontos sac bunt. Victoria Rudolph reached on a
costly error by the UT third baseman and Rabenold raced out an
infield single to load up the bases. Almengual then took the first
pitch and drove it up the middle to give Rollins the series win
over the Spartans.
Rollins will be back in action on Saturday, May 5 with a 5 p.m.
doubleheader at Barry.
