TAMPA, Fla. -
Junior designated hitter Scott Chase continues to
have an impressionable NCAA Division II South Region Tournament as
he finished 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the
16th-ranked Rollins Tars to a decisive 8-4 victory over No. 11
Valdosta State, Saturday afternoon at the UT Baseball Field.
With the win, fifth-seeded Rollins remains alive in the tournament
and will play the winner of the Florida Tech-Florida Southern game,
Sunday, May 16 at noon. The Tars improve their record to 40-18 on
the season, while third-seeded Valdosta State ends their season at
43-17.
The Blazers, who received an automatic bid after being crowned the
Gulf South Conference Tournament Champions, left 13 base runners
stranded and scored three of their four runs on home runs.
Rollins countered with Chase who finished with three singles and
three RBIs. Chase extended his hitting streak to 17 games and has
hit safely in 10 consecutive at-bats. In the tournament, Chase is
10-for-11 with two doubles and a home run.
Left fielder Tony
Brunetti recorded his second game of the season with four hits
as he finished 4-for-5 with an RBI. Shortstop Justin
Yount also has had an impressive tournament with another
multiple hit performance with two hits and a stolen base. Right
fielder Joey
Manning added two RBIs to go along with his 2-for-4
performance.
Stephen Hiscock was
spectacular for the Tars after coming off week's rest due to being
hit by a line drive in last week's series against Florida
Southern. He pitched his second complete-game of the season and
allowed just 11 hits and four runs to go along with is four
strikeouts.
Tied at one, Rollins separated itself from the Blazers with the
blast from Chase. Third baseman Ryan Luker drew a four-pitch
walk, before catcher Ben Hewett was hit by a
pitch to place runners on first and second with no outs.
The Blazers elected to pull starting pitcher Tyler Wooten (4-1)
after surrendering a walk and HBP to allow Jeremy Forbus to face
Chase. Chase then welcomed the new hurler to the game by crushing
his ninth homer of the season off the scoreboard in right.
Leading 4-1, the Blazers tacked on a pair of runs on a Brandon
Decker two-run homer to left to cut into the Tars' lead. Rollins
answered in the bottom of the seventh with four runs, three
unearned after capitalizing on an Austin Smith error at third
base.
Ferguson led off the inning with a solo shot to give the Tars an
insurance run. With one out, Kevin
Mager reached on Smith's error, which preceded a groundout and
three consecutive base hits, culminated by a two-run RBI by right
fielder Joey
Manning to increase the Tars' lead to 8-3.
The Tars broke the silence in third with heads-up base running.
Senior shortstop Justin Yount slapped an
infield single, before taking second as Valdosta State failed to
have an infielder cover the bag. A fly out later, RBI-leader Tony
Brunetti registered his 61st RBI with a single through the left
side to score Yount.
Valdosta Answered in the top of the fourth with a Clayton Cain solo
home run. The Gulf South Conference First-Team member ended the
Blazer's hitless drought with his 20th home run of the season, a
shot to left field.
