ST. LEO, Fla. (April 11, 2014) - Rollins
rallied late in the game to take it to extras, but ultimately came
up short as they suffered an 8-7 heartbreaker to the Saint Leo
Lions Friday night at Thomas B. Southard Stadium.
Rollins drops to 13-21 overall and 1-15 in the SSC. Saint Leo
improves to 25-12 on the year and 7-6 in league play.
Freshman Mike
Gaughan (2-1) was charged with the loss in 3.1 innings. The
southpaw gave up one run, seven walks and struck out two.
Gaughan's counterpart Tyrone Miller (4-0) earned the win in 4.2
innings. Miller scattered one hit, did not allow a run and struck
out a game-high four batters.
The Tars totaled 16 team hits, the second most in 2014. Christian
Coburn led the Tars offense with four hits, while Peter
Nicoletto notched three and scored two runs.
Matt
Hendricks went 2-for-7 at the plate with a career-high four
RBI. Hendricks' two hits came from a double in the seventh and a
home run in the ninth.
The Tars, who went six scoreless innings before coming alive,
jumped on the board late in the game. Junior Bryan
Perlmutter kept the Tars' seventh inning alive after reaching
first on fielding error by the Lions' shortstop, driving in Michael
Dolan for the Tars' first run.
A two-out single by Christian
Coburn advanced Perlmutter to third. The shortstop then scored
on a Nicoletto RBI single. Designated hitter Matt
Hendricks then drove in Nicoletto and Coburn on a 2-RBI double
to cut SLU's lead to 5-4.
In the top eighth, the catcher Evan
Rivera laced a two-out double down the left field line to score
Yuta
Okazaki to tie the score at five runs apiece.
SLU took a two-run lead in the home half of the frame, but a
two-run homer by Hendricks in the top ninth tied the score once
again at 7-all.
Both teams had multiple opportunities to score in extra innings,
but quick and precise defense from each team called for five
scoreless innings. The Tars ended the Lions' one-out rallies on
multiple occasions, including a pair of double plays in the
11th and 13th innings.
In the bottom 15th and bases loaded, Saint Leo
capitalized on a Gaughan wild pitch that would eventually score the
winning run and end the 15-inning affair.
The three-game series will resume on Saturday, April 12 with a
doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
