WINTER PARK, Fla. - Junior Tim
Griffin tossed 12 strikeouts and gave up one run to deny Saint
Leo a doubleheader sweep as the Rollins Tars baseball team earned a
9-1 victory in game two but dropped the opener, 8-2 to split with
the Lions, Saturday at Alfond Stadium.
Griffin, a native of Jacksonville, Fla., pitched 5.1 innings giving
up four hits to secure his second victory of the season. Fellow
junior Marc Hewett came in for relief with the bases
loaded and earned back-to-back strike outs to finish the sixth and
closed out the seventh unblemished guide Rollins.
The Tars (8-4, 2-1) collected 14 hits in the nightcap and cruised
scoring at least one run in the final five innings.
Left fielder Bryan Bennett tallied three RBIs on a 2-for-3
performance, while catcher Ben
Hewett, brother to Marc, went 2-for-2 and finished with two
RBIs. He continues to lead the team with a .520 batting
average.
Ryan Luker led off the scoring with a solo
homerun to left field in the second. The fourth homer of the
season increased Luker's RBI count to a team-best 18.
Saint Leo (2-10, 1-2) was held to four hits, three coming from
right fielder Dustin Brown in the loss. Starter Seth Fowler picked
up his second loss of the year surrendering five runs off of nine
hits in 3.1 innings of work.
After Luker's second inning homer, the Tars extended its lead to
four with three runs in the third. With two outs, Hewett
culminated the scoring frame with a two-RBI single, scoring Luker
and Bennett, who both reached on singles.
The Tars piled on a pair of runs in the fourth and sixth innings to
claim the win. In the fourth, Yount reached on a single and stole
second base and third with no outs that allowed Jesse
More to register the RBI single, a blooper to left field. More
was caught stealing on the next play, but center fielder Taylor
Ferguson singled to left to continue the rally. Bennett
smashed a ball down the left field just out of the reach of the
Lion's third baseman, Aaron McLamar that scored Ferguson from
first.
In the first game, Danny Clark went 5.1 innings allowing four
runs, three earned as he picked up his first loss of the season.
Lion's starter JC Suarez was credited with the win going 5.2
innings and limiting the Tars to just one run.
Saint Leo built a 4-0 lead, which included a Kyle Hobbs two-run
home run to left, before the Tars were able to get on the board. In
the bottom of the sixth, Luker doubled down the left field line and
scored on the following Bennett RBI-single.
The Lions tacked on three more runs in the seventh and a lone run
in the eighth to extend the lead to 8-1. Rollins used three pinch
hitters to score its last run as Charlie
Bailes drew a walk, before Eugene
Martinez's doubled placing runners in scoring position. Third
pinch hitter Max Pavy received his first hit of the 2009
season with a single, scoring Bailes, but it capped the Tars
scoring efforts in the first game.
In game one, third baseman Michael
Garczynski was the lone player for Rollins to record multiple
hits as he finished 2-for-2.
Despite the six-run loss, the Tars matched the Lions on hits with
eight and errors with two.
The Tars return to the field for another Sunshine State
Conference series against the Florida Tech Panthers in their 2009
road opener, Friday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m.
