WINTER PARK, Fla (February 4, 2012) - The
Rollins Baseball team survived late charges by the Tigers of West
Alabama not once, but twice in thrilling fashion as the Tars swept
both games of the opening day double header, 2-1 and 4-3
respectively, at Alfond Stadium.
Pitching was on display in game one as Taylor Smith of Rollins and Barry Meeks of West
Alabama seemed to be trading zeros on the scoreboard. Meeks turned
in a solid 5.2 innings with five strikeouts while surrendering just
two hits. Smith, not to be outdone, went a full eight innings with
eight strikeouts while yielding just five hits. Neither pitcher
factored in the decision.
The Tars took an early lead in the first game when Senior
Catcher Sean Reilly doubled down the left field line that scored
Junior Brandon Curson after Curson reached on a hit by pitch
in the bottom half of the second inning. But that was the only
offense the Tars were able to generate off of the Tigers'
starter.
Both teams then traded zeros until Smith gave up a solo homerun
to Chris Duncan to lead off the eigth inning that tied things up at
one run apiece.
The Tars then threatened in the bottom half of the ninth as
Reilly reached on a one out single which was followed by Senior Brian Lattanzi reaching on error by second
baseman Brett Langham. With the Tars having a runner in scoring
position with just one out, West Alabama pitcher Jessie Boyd
pitched himself out of trouble getting Anthony Figliolia to ground into a fielder's choice
and Designated Hitter Boston Langley to pop out to shallow center
field.
After coming on in relief to get the last out of the ninth,
Sophomore Adam Ogburn stayed in and threw a perfect tenth. The Tars
immediately put the pressure back on the Tigers in their half of
the frame as Chris Holloway led off with an infield single.
Shortstop Nick Adams used a sacrifice bunt to move Holloway to
second. Sophomore Zach Persky then reached on a throwing error that
moved Holloway to third with one out. Senior Kevin Mager was then intentionally walked to load the
bases for Curson.
It looked as if West Alabama was going to pitch themselves out
of a jam once again as Curson weakly popped up to the second
baseman for the second out and caused all runners to stay put.
Senior Josh Band, who pinch ran for Reilly in the ninth,
came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. The Senior
infielder was able to deliver with a single through the left side
that plated Holloway for the game winner.
Reilly went 2 for 4 from the plate in game one with one RBI
while Adam Ogburn earned the win in relief.
Game two was almost a carbon copy of game one as Tars jumped out
to an early lead from a Mager RBI double in the first and a Langley
400 foot solo blast in the second. The Tars then added a third run
in the bottom half of the fourth on Lattanzi RBI single that plated
Curson after Curson led off with a single and stole second.
Three runs looked to be plenty as Tars starter Mike Herrmann settled down after a wild first inning
to concede just one hit through his first six innings of work. The
St. Louis native looked to be cruising to a win and complete game
until the Tigers used a late game rally once again with four
straight hits to lead off the seventh inning that plated three to
knot things up and forced Tars' Coach Dr. Jon Sjogren to go to his bullpen to try to limit the
damage.
Senior Garrett Yount came on to face Tigers' Right Fielder
Tyler Richburg with a runner on second and nobody out. After a wild
pitch that allowed Tigers' base runner Micah Reeves to advance to
third, Yount was able to get Richburg looking for out number
one.
Sjogren then went to sophomore Jack Murray, who also pitched 0.2 innings of
scoreless relief in game one. After walking speedy leadoff man
Ledarrius Cole, Murray struck out the next two West Alabama batters
followed with an emotional fist pump, shifting momentum back in
Rollins' favor.
It looked like déjà vu of how the Tars
manufactured the winning run in game one in the bottom half of the
frame when Holloway led things off with a single and moved to
second on a sacrifice bunt by Adams. Holloway then moved to third
on a ground out by Persky. Band was then intentionally walked which
brought up Curson with runners on the corners with two outs.
Curson then provided the Tars' faithful with fireworks once
again as he laced a line drive over third that easily plated
Holloway for the game winner.
Curson went 2 for 4 in game two with an RBI and a run scored.
Murray earned the win in relief going 1.2 innings with two strike
outs and surrendering no hits.
Rollins will wrap up the weekend series with West Alabama
tomorrow afternoon at noon. Fans can follow along on the Tars
Sports Network at RollinsSports.com.
