KONA, Hi. (February 2, 2013) - After opening
the season with a sweep of day one of the Hawaii Hilo Invitational
on Friday, the Tars (4-0) rode the shoulders of their pitching
staff on day two, picking up a pair of wins on Saturday. Rollins
first defeated hosts Hawaii-Hilo, 1-0, before downing BYU-Hawaii in
game two, 7-1.
The depth of the 2013 Tars pitching staff was on display in game
one, with junior starter Stephanie Sullivan (2-0) and freshman Niki Fogle combining to give up just one hit over
seven shutout innings.
Rollins scored their lone run in the top half of the first.
Senior Aimee Halpin led off the game with a ground rule
double that one hopped over the fence in right. Halpin would steal
third before freshman Brittany Johnson was retired on strikes, bringing up
junior Kristie Hoeffer.
Hoeffer did just enough, sending a ground ball up the middle
that was just deep enough to score Halpin and give the Tars the 1-0
lead that they would never relinquish.
The Vulcans' best scoring chance came in the sixth, loading the
bases with two outs. Sophomore Collete Black then sent a low line
drive that looked to be headed for the hole on the left side.
Junior shortstop Jessica Gipson took one step to her right before
laying out and making a game saving play, ending the inning and
preserving the one-run lead.
Fogle (2) sat UHH down in order in the seventh, picking up the
save, to secure the Tars win. Fogle is now just one save away from
a tie for the school record for saves in a season.
Both teams got off to a slow start in game two with both teams
going scoreless through the first two full innings.
Rollins would then finally get to BYU-Hawaii starter Gabrielle
Hawkins in the top half of the third, erupting for four runs on
three hits and two costly Seasiders' errors. Both Gipson and
senior Hannah Lovestrand doubled in the inning with Gipson,
Fogle and Hoeffer each recording an RBI.
The Tars would plate a couple more in the sixth, pushing deficit
to 6-0 after Johnson scored on another BYU-Hawaii error before
Hoeffer delivered again, singling up the middle to score Halpin
from third.
The Seasiders would tally their only run in the bottom half of
the inning. Chandra Tewari reached to open the inning on a hit by
pitch. The sophomore eventually moved around to third base after a
Tars throwing error and a Kayla Atkin ground out before scoring on
a sac fly to left by Lindsay Robison.
The final run of the game came in the seventh when Rollins added
another for good measure on a Shelby Walters RBI double. The one hopper to the
fence drove in Kelsey Oonk who had singled earlier in the
inning.
Sophomore Taylor McGowan (1-0) picked up the win in game two,
pitching four innings in relief, giving up one run on two hits
while striking out a pair.
Lovestrand led the way offensively, going 3-4 with a double and
a run scored.
The Tars will now return Sunday for the final day of the
Invitational. Matching up with Western Washington at 3:00 p.m. and
then meet Saint Martins shortly after at 5:30 p.m. ET. Fans will be
able to catch all the action live on the Tars Sports Network at
RollinsSports.com.
