MIAMI SHORES, Fla. (March 28, 2014) - Rollins
rightfully earned their first Sunshine State Conference win behind
an incredible pitching performance by Matt
Hendricks and was backed up by the offense to defeat Barry 9-3
Friday night at Feinbloom Field.
Hendricks tossed 7.1 innings of four-hit baseball to improve his
record to 3-2. The right-hander gave up all three Barry runs and
recorded two strikeouts. Hendricks also retired 13 straight Barry
batters in the process.
Freshman Mike
Gaughan closed for the Tars and pitched effectively for 1.2
innings as he allowed only one hit and held the Bucs scoreless.
At the plate, Rollins tallied 10 team hits. Brett
Flutie, Mike
Purcell and Bryan
Perlmutter registered two hits apiece. Christopher
Corbett drew three walks and scored two runs.
The Tars were also aggressive on the base paths recording five
stolen bases, two of which came from center fielder Peter
Nicoletto.
Rollins' 6-run second gave the Tars an early lead in Friday's
contest. Three straight hits began the second inning and scored
the first run of the frame. Hendricks' double down the left field
line plated Yuta
Okazaki, who led off the inning with an infield single.
A base hit followed with an error cleared the bases to drive in
a pair of runs and extend the Tars lead to 3-0. With runners on
the corners and two outs, Hunter
Mayfield hit a ball into right that allowed Nicoletto to score
from third. Mayfield and Flutie then scored the final runs of the
inning on a fielder's choice.
Barry took a run back in the home half of the second to cut into
the Tars' lead, 6-1.
Rollins scored runs in the fourth and fifth to push their lead
to 8-1. BU scored back-to-back runs in the sixth and seventh, but
gave up one final Rollins run in the eighth on a wild pitch.
Bucs starter Adrian Benitez was tagged with the loss in 1.2
innings. The right-handed pitcher scattered six hits and allowed
six runs, while giving up three walks.
Greg Brodzinski led the Bucs with three hits and two RBI.
The Bucs and Tars will be at it once again on Saturday, March 29
in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.