WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 17, 2021) - The Rollins Tars tried their best to overcome a slow start to the day, but fell just short of an epic comeback, falling 6-5 at home against Florida Tech on Wednesday night.
Things did not start well for Rollins as Rodnie Bernard put the Panthers up early in the first inning with a two-run bomb to left-center. They would add one in the fourth, one in the fifth, and two in the sixth to make it a 6-0 ballgame. Offensively, the Tars could not get their bats going, and did not pick up their first hit until
Sam LaFontaine led off the 5th inning with a single.
Rollins began chipping away at the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when
Jack Gonzalez laced his second double of the year to the right field fence to lead things off. He would score three batters later on an
Eddie Ayala RBI single. They added two more runs in the seventh inning when the red-hot
Nick Santucci blasted his third home run in three games over the right field wall for a solo shot. Gonzalez would reach on a walk, and ended up scoring a run on a 2nd RBI from Ayala to make it 6-3.
In the eighth, LaFontaine reached for the second time by legging out an infield single.
Drew Howard joined him on the base paths with his first hit of the season, setting the stage for Santucci again. The senior outfielder came through with a triple to the rightfield corner, plating both runners and pulling the Tars within one.
Coach
Jon Sjogren called on his closer
Kyle Kramer in the top of the ninth to keep the Tars in it, and the sophomore righty did just that with an easy 1-2-3 inning. Rollins managed to get a runner on in their last at-bat, but a sharply hit line drive off the bat of
Joe Cosgrove was caught in right field to end the game.
Santucci led the offense with his two extra base hits and three RBI. All five of his hits this season have been for extra bases, and he is currently slugging 1.700.
Ryan Coleman and LaFontaine each had a pair of hits as well.
Carson Hauben took the loss for Rollins in his first appearance of the year. The Tars used six pitchers in this one, with
Jared Herron,
Steven Swift and Kramer all throwing clean innings.
Next up for Rollins is a doubleheader at Lynn on Friday, March 19 starting at noon. Their next home game will be the third game of the Lynn series played Sunday, March 21 at 2:00 pm.
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