The Rollins baseball team (21-10-1, 3-5 SSC) lost two of three
games last week, including a two-game split at Saint Leo in
Sunshine State Conference action.' This week, the Tars will host
South Region opponent Lincoln Memorial (21-14-1) in a mid-week game
on Wednesday before facing Florida Southern (14-18, 3-6 SSC) in a
weekend SSC series.' All four games will be played at Alfond
Stadium in Winter Park.
ROLLINS BASEBALL ON THE AIR: The Citizens Bank
of Florida Tars Sports Network is scheduled to air live audio of
all 56 games of the 2008 Rollins baseball schedule live on www.RollinsSports.tv. Fans can
also follow the games online with live stats on the Tars' home on
the Web, www.RollinsSports.com.
IN THE RANKINGS: Florida Southern, a preseason
No. 3 pick in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, has struggled
so far this year, falling out of the national and regional rankings
with a 14-18 record.' The Tars were ranked as high as No. 6 in the
region in to the NCBWA weekly poll, but they did not make the top
10 this week.
NEWS: Rollins was rained out at Saint Leo in
the last game of last weekend's three-game series, and that game
has been rescheduled for Monday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m.' Florida
Southern Head Coach Pete Meyer will become the school's fourth
Athletics Director since 1972, and current Assistant Coach Jim
Tyrrell will take over as Head Coach in 2009.
LAST TIME OUT: Rollins fell 24-12 at Saint Leo
on Saturday, succumbing to the high-powered Lions lineup.' LMU
freshman left-hander Steven Starbird pitched a four-hit shutout
against No. 25 Florida Tech on Tuesday in a 3-0 win.' Florida
Southern had a shutout of their own, as four pitchers combined to
three-hit Saint Leo on the road in a 5-0 win Tuesday night.
SCOUTING THE TARS: Designated hitter Bryan
Bennett (.430 AVG, 2 HR, 27 RBI) and third baseman Gene Howard
(.427 AVG, 2 HR, 31 R) lead the Rollins lineup.' Outfielders Mike
Crane (.387 AVG, 3 HR, 28 RBI) and Corey Whiting (.381 AVG, 38 R,
28 SB) are also off to good starts in 2008.' Mario Lombardo (7-0,
1.40 ERA) is the ace of the pitching staff, and Robbie Pagano (1.93
ERA, 2 SV) is the top arm out of the bullpen.
SCOUTING THE RAILSPLITTERS: Third baseman Casey
Sedley powers the Lincoln Memorial lineup (.310 AVG, 8 HR, 30 RBI)
and also is a reliable starting pitcher (4-2, 4.08 ERA).'
Outfielder TeWayne Willis (.358 AVG, 34 R, 21 SB) is a dynamic
leadoff hitter, and Ray Burchell (3.26 ERA, 6 SV) is the
Railsplitters' closer.
SCOUTING THE MOCCASINS: Outfielder Will Cherry
(.350 AVG, 4 HR, 24 R) and third baseman Arden McWilliams (.344
AVG, 6 HR, 28 RBI) are the keys to the Florida Southern lineup, and
catcher David Golliner (.325 AVG, 7 HR, 34 RBI) leads the team in
homeruns and RBI.' Converted closer Brad Davidson (2-4, 3.86 ERA)
has stepped into the rotation to be a reliable starter, and Ryan
Koch (1-1, 2.77 ERA) has continued in his role as a top
reliever.
LAST MEETING: Florida Southern defeated Rollins
in both non-conference meetings last year, 9-8 in Lakeland and 10-1
in Winter Park, and the Moccasins took two of three in the SSC
series in Lakeland, falling 7-6 in the first game and winning 7-6
and 11-6 in the following two.' The conference series featured two
extra inning games, with each team winning one.
LOOKING AHEAD: After this week, Rollins will
travel to Melbourne to face No. 25 Florida Tech in a mid-week
non-conference game on Wednesday, April 2.' The Tars will then face
Flagler in a three-game weekend series, driving to St. Augustine on
Friday, April 4 for a single game and heading back to Winter Park
for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 5.
TARS TIDBITS: Mario Lombardo has won each of
his last seven starts, improving to 7-0 on the season ' Gene Howard
(t-2nd - .372), Corey Whiting (4th - .371), and Mike Crane (8th -
.354) each rank among the top 10 all-time in Rollins history in
career batting average ' since the Tars' SSC opener at Barry on
2/29, Bryan Bennett has started all 19 games at designated hitter,
leading the team with 23 RBI over that span ' Howard tallied career
hit number 200 on 3/19 against Tiffin ... after splitting two games
against No. 30 Saint Leo, Rollins is 2-3-1 this year against teams
ranked in the top 30 according to Collegiate Baseball
Newspaper's weekly national poll ' Lombardo earned career win
number 20 and struck out his 200th career batter on 3/21 at Saint
Leo ...Stefano Foggi is batting .305 with three homeruns and 24 RBI
while batting in the number nine spot.
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