ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -
The Rollins baseball team scored three runs in the top of the
ninth inning to secure an 11-8 Sunshine State Conference victory
over the Eckerd Tritons, Friday evening at Turley Athletic
Complex.
Tied at eight, the Tars (27-15, 9-7) began the ninth with a Justin
Yount single up the middle. The Silvis, Ill., native reached
third on the ensuing Taylor Ferguson at-bat with
a stolen base and a wild pitch. After Ferguson's groundout, the
Tritons (17-21, 1-15) elected to walk the Tars' RBI leader Tony
Brunetti to place runners on the corner with one out.
Brunetti stole second to break up the routine double play
opportunity, but Eckerd four-pitched walked Kevin
Mager to load the bases. Right fielder Joey
Manning hit into a fielder's choice to score the eventual
game-winning run, Yount. Brunetti scored on the second wild pitch
of the inning, before Ben Hewett hit an RBI-single
to right to cap the Tars' scoring.
For the Tars, Brunetti and Josh Band highlighted the
day with two RBIs apiece. Brunetti continues to lead the team with
45 as he finished the game 2-for-4 with a walk. Band drilled his
first home run of the season, a two-run blast to left field.
Yount and Ferguson both went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Yount
stole his 17th base of the season, while Ferguson racked up his
20th double, both are team-highs.
Designated hitter Scott Chase and Hewett added
two hits each to round out the hitters with multiple hits.
Marc Hewett (2-4) earned the
win for the Tars coming out of the bullpen. He pitched three
relief innings and allowed four hits and two runs with two
strikeouts. Stephen Hiscock started the
game for Rollins and surrendered nine hits in six innings with six
runs, five earned. The Naugatuck, Conn., finished with nine
punch-outs, one shy of his season-best to regain the team-leader
with 72.
The Tars jumped out early to take a 4-0 lead, behind Band's two-run
homer. However, the Tritons cut into the Tars lead in the bottom
of the second with a pair runs. Two more runs increased the Tars'
lead, but a three-run fifth inning limited the Tars' advantage to
6-5.
The Tritons tied the game in the sixth, before Rollins countered
with a pair of runs in the seventh on a Brunetti RBI-single, which
scored two runs.
Eckerd again fought back in the bottom of the eighth, before
Rollins secured the win in the ninth.
The Tars and Tritons will finish out the remainder of the series
with a doubleheader, Saturday, April 17 at 1 p.m.
