WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 31, 2021) - A solid pitching performance and a pair of dingers propelled the Rollins Tars past the Saint Leo Lions 4-2 at Alfond Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Austin Long took the mound for Rollins in his first start of the season. Coming off a weekend in which he recorded a win in relief and a save against Florida Southern, the former Indiana Hoosier pitched effectively for the entire game. He was helped by inducing weak contact throughout, and a couple of nice plays on defense behind him.
The Lions actually jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first. Danny Torres singled up the middle, and then stole second base. A grounder moved him to third, followed by a wild pitch which allowed him to score. Neither team did anything after that for innings two, three, and four as lanky lefty Jared Beck held the Tars hitless while Long settled in nicely.
In the fifth inning, Eddie Niemann punched a single through the left side, and advanced two times on wild pitches from Long. He was brought in when the Lions' nine-hole hitter, Yazael Nunez, ripped one of his two hits into center to give Saint Leo a 2-1 advantage. The Tars were ready to answer back, however. In the bottom of the frame,
Sam LaFontaine led the inning off with a solo bomb to right to tie things up. It was his second longball of the season.
Parker Smith walked and
Drew Howard blooped a single into right to put two men on for leadoff hitter
Nick Santucci. The Lions chose to stay with their starter on the mound, which turned out to be a mistake. With two strikes against him, Santucci was able to take the southpaw deep to right-center for a no-doubt three-run homer, giving the Tars a 4-2 lead. It was Santucci's sixth home run of the year, which ties him for second-most in the Sunshine State Conference.
With a lead to work with, Long locked in for the final four frames. He went nine up, nine down across innings six, seven, and eight thanks in large part to a pair of double plays turned by his infielders, Howard,
Adams Torres, and
Jack Gonzalez. Closer
Kyle Kramer was ready to go out of the bullpen in the ninth, but pitching coach
Patrick Szczerba stuck with his starter, who was under 90 pitches heading into the ninth. Long came through, striking out the potential tying run for the final out of the game.
Long's final stat line read nine innings, six hits, two runs, one walk and two strikeouts. It was the first complete game of his Rollins career. Along with the home runs, the Tars received help on offense from Torres, who reached base three times, and
Parker Smith, who reached twice and scored once.
The win moves Rollins to 6-3 on the year and 6-2 in SSC play. Saint Leo falls to 4-7 on the year.
The two teams will battle in Saint Leo on Thursday, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. They will then return to Winter Park for the series finale on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m.
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