WINTER PARK, Fla. (April 27, 2013) -
Led by a trio of seniors playing their final regular season
games as Tars, Rollins (44-8) coasted to a doubleheader sweep of
Palm Beach Atlantic (27-23) on Saturday afternoon, taking game one
7-0 before an 8-2 victory in game two.
Seniors Aimee
Halpin, Hannah
Lovestrand and Tara
Turner went a combined 10-20 in the pair of wins, with a
homerun, two RBI, and six runs scored.
The Tars jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning of
game one on a Veronica
Alred two-RBI double that scored Halpin and Kristie
Hoeffer. Halpin had walked to open the game and moved to second
on a Lovestrand sacrifice bunt before Hoeffer reached on a single
to bring up Alred.
The score would hold at 2-0 until the fourth. With a runner on
third and two outs, Turner beat out a chopper to the left side,
scoring Meghan
Durbin to give Rollins a 3-0 lead.
Rollins game on starter Niki
Fogle sat the Sailfish down in order in the fifth before the
Tars erupted for four more in the home half of the inning, all
coming on a Jessica
Gipson grand slam to right center, to blow the game open,
taking a 7-0 lead. It was Gipson's 10th homerun of the
season.
The seven-run lead was plenty for Fogle (24-3) as she coasted
the rest of the way for the win. The freshman gave up no runs on
just four hits in seven innings, striking out four.
Halpin went 3-3 in game one with a pair of runs scored.
After a short break between games to celebrate the three
memorable careers of Halpin, Lovestrand, and Turner, the Tars got
right back to it in game two, exploding for four runs in the first,
highlighted by a two-RBI double by Gipson.
Rollins added another in the second on a Halpin solo shot to
right to push the lead to 5-0.
The Sailfish would score their first run of the afternoon in the
fourth on an RBI triple by Kara Anderson to cut the deficit to
5-1.
Unfortunately for PBA, the Tars would answer right back in the
bottom of the inning, scoring two on a Hoeffer two-RBI single up
the middle to take a 7-1 lead.
Freshman Brittany
Johnson would add some insurance in the fifth, homering for the
fourth time of the season, a solo shot down the left field line,
making it 8-1 Rollins.
The Sailfish would manage a run in the seventh but it was much
too little too late as game two starter Stephanie
Sullivan (14-4) picked up the win, going seven innings and
giving up just two runs on seven hits.
Halpin and Lovestrand both had multi-hit games in game two, both
going 2-4 in the win.
The 44 wins are the fifth most in program history.
The Tars are a near lock to advance to the NCAA postseason for
the eighth time in school history. Updates will be posted on
RollinsSports.com when they become available.
