WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 1, 2020) - The Rollins Tars earned their first win of the season with an impressive comeback, topping the Spring Hill Badgers by a score of 6-3 on a gloomy Saturday afternoon.
Drew Daczkowski took the ball for the Tars in his first start of the season. "Dutch" was impressive in limited action last year, and is being eased back into the rotation by Tars pitching coach Patrick Szczerba. The big righty was solid, allowing one run on two hits over four innings. He also struck out seven hitters, and stranded five on base. His only blemish came in the third inning on a two-out double from Daniel Rodriguez that plated Grayson Williams.
Justin Driscoll was next in line on the mound. In the top of the fifth, the Badgers' leadoff hitter reached on an error, and moved to second on a walk. A sac bunt put two runners in scoring position. Another Tars error, their fourth of the game, put a run across and kept the inning alive. Joe Stevens then lifted a fly ball to left that scored Williams to make it 3-0. The Tars got one back in the bottom half when Jake Rolly used his other-worldly speed to swipe second base, and then score on an infield single and throwing error.
Rollins was able to tie things up in the sixth inning when Nick Santucci lasered a ball over the right field fence to score himself and Adams Torres to make it three all. In the seventh, Luke Reidy brought in the go-ahead run with an RBI single that scored Cameron Meehan. The Tars then wrapped up their offensive day with two more in the eighth courtesy of an RBI from Meehan and a throwing error from the Spring Hill catcher.
After the 5th inning, the Tars bullpen was fantastic for the second straight day. Driscoll picked up the first two strikeouts of his career in the top of the sixth inning. In the seventh, Ryan Moore made his first career appearance, and tossed a scoreless frame. The eighth inning saw Timmy Tierney on the mound for the first time, and also recorded his first two career strikeouts. Then it was up to Kyle Bachle to close things out in the ninth. The sophomore did just that, freezing Mason Bonnafons to end the game.
"We have confidence in all of our guys," said Szczerba. "We knew coming in to today that we would need all hands on deck after last night's (extra-inning) game. Three guys made their debut today, and they looked like veterans. They were up for the challenge."
Moore took home the win, the first of his career. Bachle was credited with a save, also the first of his career. As a staff, rollins stuck out 12 batters, giving them 31 punchouts in two games.
On offense, Meehan reached base four times from the leadoff spot on three hits and a walk, and scored twice. Shortstop Adams Torres also had three hits, his second multi-hit game in as many days. Santucci, making his first career start at third base, had two hits and two RBI on the day.
The rubber match between these two teams will be played at noon on Sunday. Fans who are unable to attend can follow along live at sunshinestateconference.tv/rollins.
