WINTER PARK, Fla. –
Junior third baseman Ryan Luker recorded the Rollins College
baseball team's first home run of the year, a two-run shot over the
left center field wall, to guide the Tars to a 13-7 rout over Palm
Beach Atlantic, Friday evening at Alfond Stadium.
The St. Petersburg, Fla., native, Luker finished going 2-for-2 with
three RBIs, three runs scored and a walk. Rollins' (2-1) center
fielder Taylor Ferguson tallied a team-high four hits
with an RBI and two runs scored.
The Tars capped off the night with 14 hits to PBA's (0-3) nine.
Leading the way for the Sailfish was Juaquin Valdes, who was
4-for-4 with four RBIs, a home run and a walk. Tony Livelsberger
followed with a lone hit, a homer to left center.
Newcomer Stephen Hiscock surrendered four hits and allowed
two runs, one earned, while capturing six strike outs in six
innings of work. His counterpart, Buddy Fisher, went three innings
and gave up 11 runs on 11 hits for PBA.
Steven Gropler and Chad
Giannuzzi finished the game for the Tars going two and one
innings, respectively.
PBA struck first in the contest when Vasilios Mila singled up the
middle and stole second with one out. Mila advanced to third on
the ground out by Livelsberger and scored on Valdes' first of three
singles to give the Sailfish the early 1-0 advantage.
The Tars bats came alive in the first with a four-run first
inning. Junior transfer Justin Yount led off with a four pitch
walk. Two batters later Ferguson connected on a Fisher pitch and
roped a shot to center field scoring Yount from first. With the
scored tied, designated hitter Bryan
Bennett kept the rally going with a single up the middle
scoring Ferguson from third. Two batters later, Luker capitalized
on the opportunity and crushed a two-out homer to give the Tars a
4-1 lead.
The Sailfish cut the deficit in half in the top of the second
inning when Michael Kutch battled for a leadoff walk. After
another PBA stolen base, the Sailfish were unable to gain any
momentum with its next two batters as both fell victim to Hiscock
and struck out. With two-outs, Nick Norley singled and advanced on
a Tars' throwing error, which scored Kutch.
Leading 4-2, the Tars scored five runs in the next two innings as a
big third inning spaced the Tars from PBA. After scoring a run in
the second, Rollins loaded the bases for freshman second baseman Josh
Band in the third. A Peabody, Mass., native, Band, drilled a
single up the middle registering two RBIs in the effort. Yount
followed suit with a single of his own, a chopper that got through
the right side hole. Band eventually made his way to third base on
the Yount single and scored on the ensuing at bat on a wild
pitch.
Rollins continued to add to its lead in the fourth, fifth and
seventh innings. In the fourth, the Tars began in the inning with
runners on first and second after Bennett was hit-by-a-pitch, which
preceded a Luker single. With Tars on first and second, junior
catcher Ben Hewett blasted a trip to right center scoring
the runners. The Tars tacked on solo runs in the fifth and seventh
to take a 13-2 lead.
The Sailfish would fight back with a pair of home runs and scored
five runs in the final two innings, but in the end their comeback
fell short.
Rollins concludes the three-game series with PBA, Saturday, a
doubleheader slated to begin at 1 p.m. at Alfond Stadium.
