CARY, NC (June 8, 2023) – Rollins' quest for a national championship hit a speed bump on Thursday as the Tars fell to the San Bernardino Coyotes by a score of 16-11. Rollins now stands at 41-18 on the year. CSU Bernardino improves to 46-18.
Rollins threatened early on, loading the bases with two outs in the first, but they failed to capitalize. San Bernardino did not follow the same path, as they were able to score twice in the first inning after their first three hitters all reached base safely against starter
Ryan Furey.
Rollins got one back in the second when
Parker Smith went big fly to left-center for a solo home run. The roundtripper was his 22nd of the year, which now puts him in a tie with Barton Vaughn (1998) for the most home runs in a single season in Tars baseball history.
After Furey struck out the side in the second, and then saw his guys tie things up in the third when
Cameron Meehan singled with two outs to drive in
Ryan Coleman. The momentum quickly went back to the Coyotes as they led off the inning with a solo home run, and added two more to go up 5-2 through three.
The Tars then rallied again in the fourth, picking up RBI from
Spencer Sarringar and
Adams Torres to make it 5-4. However, they left two men on in the inning when the final batter of the inning struck out.
After the Tars failed to score in the fifth, San Bernardino blew the game open with a three-run home run and an RBI single to go up 9-4.
Rollins continued to chip away, scoring a pair in the sixth. After Smith led off with a triple, he was brought in by Sarringar on a single. Three batters later,
Jeslyn Whitehead doubled to center to drive in Sarringar and make it 9-6.
Again, the Coyotes were not phased, and added more to their total in the bottom half when they turned three walks, a single, and a double into four runs, going up 13-6. They also added three more in the seventh, putting them up 16-6.
In the final at bat for Rollins, the bench made it a respectable score.
Drew Howard led off with a walk, followed by
Kyle Bullock getting hit by a pitch. After two outs, a walk to
Jack Herring loaded the bases for
Kency Mocombe. The youngster was able to beat out a grounder to short, driving in a run and keeping the inning alive. Sarringar followed with a two-run base knock to left.
Joey Rubin followed with a walk, and
Adams Torres plated a pair with a single to left to round out the scoring at 16-11.
Smith finished his day a double shy of the cycle, while scoring three times and driving in one. Sarringar also had three hits on the day, and drove in four.
Rollins pitchers had a rough day, allowing 15 hits, 16 earned runs, and walking eight while striking out four.
The two teams will now face each other for a third time this week in an elimination game on Friday, June 9. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 PM.
