WINTER PARK, Fla. (April 27, 2024) - Softball wrapped up their home schedule in style on Saturday, posting a pair of 1-0 shutouts against Palm Beach Atlantic. The two wins move Rollins to 35-11 on the year, and 18-9 in the SSC. The Sailfish end their season 15-26, 11-19 SSC.
Game One
Rollins 1, Palm Beach Atlantic 0
Emily MacMullen drew the start in game one, and turned in a phenomenal performance. For the first six innings of the game, she did not allow a base runner, totaling seven strikeouts, and relying on a fantastic defense behind her.
The only run came in the sixth when the Tars struck on offense.
Brie Michelli grounded into a fielder's choice to make two outs, but made up for it by stealing second.
Ashley Worrell was up next, and ripped a line drive to left to score Michelli.
Elisa Grande spoiled MacMullen's perfect game bid, leading off the seventh with a base hit to right. She would advance to second on a bunt, and to third on a groundout. With the tying run only 60 feet away, Michelli fielded a hot grounder at third, and made a strong throw to first to end the game.
This was the third straight start for MacMullen going at least seven innings. She lowered her season ERA to 1.72 with the shutout.
Game Two
Rollins 1, Palm Beach Atlantic 0
The back half of the twinbill played to a similar script, with the Tars coming out on top once more.
Rollins probably should have scored more than once in the game, but they left a runner stranded at third base in each of the first three innings of the game.
Meanwhile, Worrell forced the Sailfish into eleven straight groundouts to start the game. She lost her perfect game with a two-out walk in the fourth, but no damage was done.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Claire Long led off with a triple to right-center. Next up was
Kaeli Zahradnik, who popped a flyball to right that was caught. Long broke for home, and the throw from right beat her by a few steps. However, the umpire ruled that the Sailfish catcher did not leave her a baseline to score, forcing an obstruction call and counting the run.
Worrell would continue her dominance, stranding a runner on second in the fifth, forcing three groundouts in the sixth, and then escaping some drama in the seventh.
An error at second put a runner on, and two batters later, a base hit had two Fish on base. Worrell then earned her one and only strikeout of the game, blowing away Chloe Nepveux. A wild pitch made it even more dramatic, putting both runners in scoring position with two outs. However, another nice play from Michelli ended the game as she caught a line drive to wrap things up.
Worrell's final line read seven innings, two hits, zero runs, one walk, and one strikeouts. This was her fourth straight complete game shutout.
Grace Germer had two hits to lead the offense.
Following the games, softball bid farewell to five upcoming graduates:
Morgan Lebeda,
Jaden Walker,
Grace Germer,
Hayley Lazo, and
Ashley Worrell. This was the final home game for the quintet.
Rollins has one more series, at Florida Southern next weekend. Each game has a huge impact on claiming one of five at-large bids for the NCAA South Region tournament, which begins in two weeks.
