WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 7, 2016) - The Tars
dropped the final two games of their three game series against the
Young Harris Mountain Lions. After postponing game two on Friday,
the teams played the final six and a half innings of the contest
with the Tars falling 9-8 to the Mountain Lions. In game three
Rollins struggled getting runs across the plate, eventually falling
by the score of 4-2. With the losses Rollins moves to 2-4 overall,
and 1-2 in the Sunshine State Conference. Young Harris now stands
at 2-1 overall, and 0-0 in the Peach Belt Conference.
Mike
Purcell and Tyler
Fairbanks led the Tars offence. Purcell went 4-4 in game two
of the series. The Chesire, Connecticut native scored three runs
and drove in another in the divided ball game. Fairbanks went 4-5,
including hitting his second homerun of the season.
The Tars sent five pitchers to the mound over the two days. Mike
Gaughan started, throwing three innings, giving up five runs,
two earned, and striking out five in the loss. Jonathan
Rivera made his Rollins debut, throwing 2.1 innings,
surrendering four runs and striking out one. Brooks
Norton and Whit
Drennan each pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Brett
Scafidi also entered the game to record an out.
The Tars jumped out to an early lead when Purcell scored on a Mike
Dolan double in the bottom of the first. Rollins would
surrender the lead back in the next frame, when Young Harris put
two on the board in the top of the second. Rollins would tie the
score at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning when Skip
Kovar scored on an Isaiah
Russell groundout. The Mountain Lions again responded, sending
three across the plate in the top of the third. At that point the
game was suspended, due to weather, with the Tars trailing 5-2.
After the restart, Young Harris was first to put up points,
scoring twice in the top of the fourth. Rollins was able to cut
into the lead slightly in the fifth when Nick
Breen scored on a Purcell single. Young Harris again
responded, and put two more runs on the board in the sixth making
it 9-3.
Rollins began to claw back into the game in the seventh.
Purcell scored on a Joey
Vecchione groundout, making the score 9-4. The eighth inning
saw Fairbanks homer to make the score 9-5. The bottom of the ninth
saw the Tars string multiple hits together to load the bases. With
three runners on Vecchione singled, scoring one, Kovar walked, and
Fairbanks singled, moving the score to 9-8. However, Rollins was
not able to capitalize further and Young Harris held on for the
victory.
The third game of the series saw Purcell and Fairbanks continue
their hot hitting, Purcell going 2-4 with an RBI, and Fairbanks
going 2-3. Dolan registered an RBI. Breen and Christopher
Corbett crossed the plate for the Tars.
Five Rollins pitchers saw time on the mound in game three. Brian
Auerbach got the start, throwing five innings, giving up three
runs and striking out six, earning the loss. Patrick
Heuler recorded a strikeout. Norton faced two batters,
recording two outs. Brad
Case pitched for two innings, giving up one run. Senior, Matt
Hendricks pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out two.
Rollins took the lead in the bottom of the first. Corbett hit a
one out triple and scored on a Purcell groundout. Young Harris
responded with two runs in the top of the third. The Mountain
Lions then extended their lead with a run in the fifth, making the
score 3-1.
Young Harris made it 4-1 in the top of the eighth before the
Tars were able to pull a run back in the bottom of the frame.
Breen hit a lead off double and eventually scored when Dolan hit
into a fielder's choice. That was as close as the Tars would come,
dropping the contest 4-2.
Rollins begins a three game series with the Bentley Falcons on
Friday, February 12. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. For
the latest news, updates, and information on the Rollins baseball
team, fans can visit RollinsSports.com. Fans can also stay
up-to-date on the latest #TARnation news by following Rollins
Sports on Facebook, Twitter,
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