CARY, N.C. (June 8, 2022) – The 20th-ranked and sixth-seeded Rollins baseball team exacted some revenge on eighth-ranked and third-seeded Southern Arkansas on Wednesday, eliminating the Muleriders by a score of 7-5 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. The win, coming four days after SAU handed Rollins a 3-1 defeat in the opening game of the tournament, pushes the Tars to 42-16 and ends SAU's season at 47-13.
Jeslyn Whitehead went 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored, and two RBIs, while
Ryan Coleman was 2-for-3 with a three-run home run.
Adams Torres finished 2-for-4 with a double, and RBI, and two runs scored, and
Jared Herron was 2-for-4 with a two doubles and a run scored.
Tate Stone-Frisina (9-1) got the win, giving up just two runs on five hits in five innings, walking one and striking out six.
Chase Achuff collected his seventh save of the year, giving up one hit and recording the final out of the game.
Chris Lyles finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Chris Sutton was 1-for-5 with a two-run home run for the Muleriders. Parker Abrego (2-1) took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits in five innings, walking three and striking out two.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
First Inning
- Achuff doubled with one out for the game's first hit.
- Two batters later, Jeslyn Whitehead blooped a single to right to drive home Achuff to open the scoring.
Third Inning
- The Muleriders tied it up with an RBI groundout in the third.
- Rollins quickly answered, beginning with a double from Torres on the first pitch of the bottom half of the inning.
- Jeslyn Whitehead then hit a 1-0 pitch up the middle for a base hit, scoring Torres; Whitehead also alertly took second a wild throw home from the center fielder.
- Nick Santucci flied out to center, but deep enough to allow Whitehead to move over to third.
- Cameron Meehan followed with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Whitehead, increasing the lead to 3-1.
Fifth Inning
- A two-out solo homer brought Southern Arkansas to within a run at 3-2 in the fifth.
- Once again, the Tars responded immediately.
- Torres opened the bottom half with a single and quickly took second base on a passed ball.
- Jeslyn Whitehead drew a walk to put two on with nobody out.
- After a foulout and a strikeout, Coleman delivered a two-out, three-run home run to right to make it a 6-2 ballgame.
Sixth Inning
- The Tars tacked on an insurance run in the sixth on a flyout by Torres that turned into a double play, but also scored Herron to make it 7-2.
Ninth Inning
- The Muleriders made things interesting in the ninth, scoring three runs on four hits and putting the potential tying run at second base with two outs.
- Achuff was able to bounce back after giving up the two-run double to strike out SAU's clean-up hitter, stranding the tying runs on base and keeping the Tars' season alive.
UP NEXT:
The Tars will face fourth-ranked and second-seeded Point Loma in the Bracket One Championship, which serves as the national semifinals, tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. Since Point Loma has advanced to the Bracket One Championship without a loss, Rollins must defeat the Sea Lions twice in order to advance to the National Championship. If the Tars win tomorrow's game, the same two teams will square off again on Friday, June 10 at 1:30 p.m. to determine the winner of Bracket One.
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