WINTER PARK, Fla. (January 31, 2020) - The 2020 Rollins baseball season started in disappointing, albeit exciting, fashion on Friday night as the Tars dropped an extra-nnings thriller to Spring Hill, 8-7.
The first two innings saw both teams fail to push a run across. Tate Stone-Frisina, who drew the start for Rollins, was cruising as he racked up four strikeouts in the first two frames. He seemed well on his way to do it again in the third, but a dropped pop fly with two outs allowed Deon Leflore to reach safely. He was shortly brought in by a Grayson Williams single to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead. It was short-lived however as Jack Gonzalez brought in Devon Ortiz on a double, and then scored via a Luke Reidy single to give the Tars a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third.
The Badgers made their mark in the fourth inning as an error, walk, and sac bunt put two men in scoring position with one out. Antonio Felix, Joe Stevens, and Joseph Guidry then hit three singles in a row to give Spring Hill four runs in the inning, and a 5-2 lead overall. Rollins got one run back in the bottom half when Adams Torres hit an absolute moon shot to left field for his first home run of the year, cutting the lead to 5-3.
It looked like the Tars were about to blow things open in the bottom of the fifth when Gonzalez, Reidy and Parker Smith all reached safely to load the bases with no one out. Rollins was only able to score one run in the inning though on a sac fly from Cody Oerther, making it a 5-4 game.
Both teams stuggled from there out as quality pitching took over. The Tars received two fantastic efforts from James Hoelle and Ross Korosec. Hoelle, a junior, tossed three shutout innings allowing only one walk while striking out five. Korosec relieved him in the seventh, and followed suit with two scoreless frames and four punchouts of his own.
With Spring Hill holding a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, the two Tars senior captains brought the team back. Ortiz started the inning with a beautiful bunt single, and then advanced to second on a balk. One pitch later, the speedster stole third base, and was promptly brought in on a Gonzalez single through the right side to tie the game. Gonzalez moved to second on a Luke Reidy sacrifice, but the Tars failed to bring him in, and the game headed to extras.
Kyle Kramer came in to pitch the tenth for Rollins, and put himself in a tough spot with the bases loaded and one out. However, the sophomore righty dialed in and induced a pair of strikeouts to escape the jam unscathed. Rollins was unable to score in the bottom of the inning, stranding a runner on second.
The Badgers broke the game open in the eleventh, scoring twice on a Mason Bonnafons two-run double and a third run on a throwing error.
Rollins loaded the bases with one out, and called on Cameron Montgomery to pinch-hit. The senior hit a sharp groundball to the left side, but a nice play by the Badgers third baseman turned it into a one-run fielder's choice. With the score now 8-6, the Tars were able to score a second time on a wild pitch to pull within one. Unfortunately, the game-tying run was left stranded on second base, as Spring Hill took game one of the series.
Three Rollins errors led to three unearned runs on the night. They also did not help themselves on offense, stranding twelve runners on the night.
Jack Gonzalez led the offense with a 4-6 night at the plate that included a double, two runs and two RBI. Ortiz added two hits and three runs as well.
The same two teams will matchup on Saturday afternoon at Alfond Stadium in Winter Park. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. Fans who cannot attend the game in person can tune in live at sunshinestateconference.tv/rollins.
