WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 6, 2022) – The 16th-ranked Rollins baseball team trailed heading to the seventh inning on Sunday, but an eight-run explosion in that inning propelled the Tars to their 14th straight win, a 14-7 victory over Stonehill on the final day of Rollins Baseball Week. The win pushes Rollins' record to 15-2 overall, while Stonehill drops to 3-5.
Nick Santucci finished 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, two stolen bases, two runs scored, and four RBIs to lead the Tars. Tim Mira was 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored, and a pair of RBIs, while
Joey Rubin was 1-for-5 with a home run, a walk, a stolen base, three runs scored, and three RBIs.
Cameron Meehan finished 1-for-4 with a home run, a walk, two runs scored, and two RBIs.
Kieran Casey started and pitched the opening three innings for Rollins, allowing four runs on five hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Steven Swift (1-0) earned the win, surrendering two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of relief, walking two and striking out one.
Chase Achuff collected his third save of the year, tossing a scoreless 1.2 innings, giving up just one hit and striking out one.
Chris Roberti led the Skyhawks, going 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, a run scored, and three RBIs, while Blaine Lidsky was 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.
Jonathan Rice pitched the opening four innings for Stonehill, giving up four runs (one earned) on four hits, walking two and striking out a pair. Brendan Kelly (0-1) took the loss, giving up five runs on three hits and a walk in 0.1 innings of work.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Inning
- Stonehill opened the scoring, plating two in the first.
- Noah Lucier singled home Conor Kiely and Lidsky followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Third Inning
- The Tars took their first lead in the third, scoring three times.
- Adams Torres reached on an error that allowed Rubin to score with Rollins' first run of the game.
- Jeslyn Whitehead then laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt to score Achuff to tie the game.
- Santucci then laced a single to center to plate Torres with the go-ahead run, making it 3-2 Tars.
Fourth Inning
- The Skyhawks quickly responded, retaking the lead on a three-run home run off the bat of Roberti.
- Rollins got a run back in the bottom half when Rubin came home on a ball hit by Achuff that was booted by the third baseman, cutting the Stonehill lead down to 5-4.
Seventh Inning
- The Skyhawks maintained a one-run lead until the Rollins bats exploded in the seventh.
- Achuff led off with a single, and two batters later he moved to third on a Jeslyn Whitehead single.
- Santucci then launched a homer to right, putting the Tars up by a score of 7-5.
- After the bases became loaded on two hit-by-pitches and a walk, Mira doubled down the left field line to score Meehan and Parker Smith to make it 9-5.
- Rubin then hit a 3-0 fastball over the fence in left, increasing the Tars' lead to 12-5.
Eighth Inning
- Stonehill got two runs back in the eighth and threatened for more, but Achuff moved from shortstop to the mound with one out and the bases loaded and immediately induced a 6-4-3 double play on the very first pitch he threw, ending the inning.
- Meehan added two insurance runs with a two-run home run to straightaway center field.
Ninth Inning
- Achuff only allowed a two-out single in the ninth as he nailed down the save to preserve the 14-7 win.
UP NEXT:
The Tars will have tomorrow off before hosting Notre Dame College (Ohio) on Tuesday, March 8. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
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