WINTER PARK, Fla. (April 10, 2021) - The Nova Southeastern Sharks and Rollins Tars battled it out for 16 innings across two games on Saturday with each team earning a victory. Nova dominated the first game, winning 10-4 while Rollins used another stellar pitching performance from
Jaylyn Whitehead to take game two, 2-0.
Game One
The Sharks jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, scoring a pair of runs after Tyler Epstein walked and Alejandro Macario doubled. Andrew Labosky and Michael Uz were credited with RBI in the inning. The Tars were able to pull within one in the second when
Ryan Coleman launched a mammoth home run over the right field fence for a solo bomb, his third of the season. Nova was quick to respond in the fourth, piling on four runs in the inning. With two outs, six straight Sharks reached base on a single, two doubles, a home run and two walks to break the game open, 6-1. The lead extended to 10-1 in the fifth when Epstein hit a three-run homer. That would do it for the Sharks offense on the day, but it was more than enough. Rollins made the score respectable thanks to a two-run home run from
Jack Gonzalez in the fifth inning, and a an RBI fielder's choice from Gonzalez in the seventh to make the final of 10-4.
Tate Stone-Frisina took the loss for Rollins, while his counterpart, JP Williams earned the win for Nova Southeastern. A silver lining for the Tars was the performance of
Kyle Kramer out of the bullpen. The sophomore righty saw action for the first time in over a week after taking a line drive off the leg last week. He was phenomenal in this one, striking out seven batters in 3.1 innings of scoreless, extended work. Freshman
Jack Tomich also tossed a scoreless frame with a pair of strikeouts.
Game Two
After allowing Nova Southeastern to score 21 runs in the first two games of the series, the Tars called on
Jaylyn Whitehead to right the ship. The crafty lefty did just that, going the distance of seven innings of game two, allowing zero runs while scattering four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Whitehead and Nova's Brady Acker were matching each other pitch for pitch early on. In fact, Acker carried a no-hitter into the fifth before the Tars were able to strike.
Sam LaFontaine, who has been flirting with a .400 batting average all year, got things started with a single up the middle. He coaxed the centerfielder into throwing to first after making a huge turn, and was able to slide into second safely with nobody out. After a sac bunt from
Joe Cosgrove moved LaFontaine to third, a perfect squeeze bunt from
Eddie Ayala drove in the first run of the game. With two outs,
Nick Santucci laced a double to the right field corner, and was promptly brought in on a single to right from
Adams Torres.
Whitehead finds himself atop most SSC pitching categories after the win, with totals of three wins, 34.2 innings pitched, a 1.82 ERA, and 34 strikeouts. He has allowed two or fewer runs in all five of his starts this season. LaFontaine is riding a six-game hitting streak, including going 3-6 across both games on Saturday.
On deck for the Tars are a trio of games against the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish. Rollins will travel to West Palm on Friday, April 16 for a single game before hosting the final two games of the series on Sunday, April 18. Fans can stay up to date with all the latest news and schedule updates at RollinsSports.com.
