Box Score WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 23, 2024) - Rollins picked up a win in their first SSC game of the season, taking down the Embry-Riddle Eagles by a score of x. The Tars now stand at 6-4 on the year with a 1-0 record in SSC play. The Eagles move to 5-4, 0-1 SSC.
The first inning was fantastic for Tars' starter
Edward Berry as he struck out the side. He would add a fourth punchout in the second before the Tars came to bat in the bottom half.
Mason Wilson led off the inning with a double, but would remain stranded as Dillon Moran pitched himself out of trouble.
Inning three saw plenty of action for both sides. Embry-Riddle worked a pair of walks on pitches that missed by millimeters, and added a single to load the bases. A groundball to first presented a double play opportunity, but the Tars were only able to get one out as the first run of the game came across. In the bottom half,
Oscar Murray singled to left and Demaurys Rodriguez as hit by a pitch. After a flyout, Wilson stepped up and came through again, finishing a twelve-pitch at bat with a three-run bomb to right-center to put Rollins up 3-1.
After Berry breezed through the fourth, adding another strikeout along the way, the Tars struck again in the bottom. With two outs,
Matthew Farner blasted his first career dinger over the right field fence to make the score 4-1.
Embry-Riddle was quick to answer back in the fifth. A walk led off the inning, followed by a double off the wall. Next up was Camden Traficante who punched a ball through the right side that brought in both baserunners. The Eagles would put two more men on in the inning, but a flyout to right ended the threat.
Nate Thomas was called on out of the pen in the sixth, and put two down right away. The third batter reached on a fielding error, followed by a single to center. With runners on second and third, a wild pitch was thrown, but bounced off the backstop to catcher
Oscar Murray, who was able to dive back to the plate to tag the runner out, conserving the Tars' 4-3 lead.
Rollins worked a pair of walks and a single to load the bases with on out in the bottom of the sixth.
Jose Perez was able to lift a ball to left to bring in
Chris Sparber on a sac fly to make it 5-3 Tars.
The Eagles refused to give up, changing the scoreboard again in the seventh. A leadoff double, a wild pitch, and a groundout brought in their fourth run of the game. After a single, a pitching change was made for Rollins. The move did not pay off as Jeremy Kennedy-Davis popped a two-run home run to right, putting the Eagles up 6-5.
Rollins tried to tie things up in the eighth, with Sparber and Herring hitting balls to the warning track, but both were caught. Farner doubled to give the Tars life with two outs, but pinch-hitter
Rob Buckley went down on strikes with the tying run on third.
After
Ryan Taylor worked his way through the ninth, the stage was set for a patented Rollins comeback. With two outs, Wilson punched single through the left side for his fourth hit of the game.
Angelo Ramirez pinch-ran for him, and was brought in immediately on a Tinder double down the right field line to tie the game. The Tars would load the bases with a pair of walks, but
Drew Howard went down swinging, sending the game to extras.
Both teams went down in order in the tenth. Embry-Riddle worked a leadoff walk in the 11th, but Tinder came in from centerfield to pitch, and recorded three straight outs. The Tars had a fantastic chance to end things in the ninth with a pair of singles, but a line drive with two outs from Herring was snagged in the outfield by the Eagles shortstop to quell the threat.
Embry-Riddle rallied in the twelfth with a leadoff double, a couple of hits, a few walks, and a costly two-out error that all added up brought in four runs to make the final of 10-6.
The two teams will face off for game two of the series on Saturday with a first pitch of 2:00 pm.
