Season Wraps With Doubleheader Split

SAINT LEO, Fla. (May 10, 2024) - Baseball wrapped up their season with a doubleheader split against the #6 Saint Leo Lions. Saint Leo took game one by a score of 4-3, but Rollins bounced back with an impressive 10-3 win in game two. Rollins finishes the year with a 26-21 record, including a 17-13 mark against SSC opponents. Of their 26 wins, nine came against ranked opponents, including six against Top-10 teams.

Game One
Saint Leo 4, Rollins 3

The Lions jumped out to an early lead on starter Nick Berger with two doubles and a single in the first inning, leading to two runs. Rollins was able to cut the lead in half with a run in the top of the second. Oscar Murray walked to lead off, moved to second on a hit by pitch, to third on a groundout, and then scored on a wild pitch. 

Saint Leo had runners in scoring position in both the second and third innings, but Berger did a good job getting out of the jam each time. Murray was at the center of the next run for Rollins as well in the fourth. After Chris Sparber walked ot lead off the inning, Murray smoked a double to left center, scoring his teammate and tying the game. 

Once again, the Lions threatened in the fifth inning, this time loading the bases with two outs. Yet again, Berger was able to nullify the threat by forcing a soft groundball to first, stranding three more runners. 

Rollins jumped ahead in the sixth inning when Sparber led off the inning with a solo shot to left center making the score 3-2. Unfortunately, the Lions were still hot at the plate as they put two on the board thanks to a single, error, sac bunt, and two-run base hit, putting them up 4-3. 

The Tars only managed one more base runner in the game on a Rob Buckley single in the ninth as they eventually fell by the 4-3 score. 

Sparber, Murray, and Buckley were the only three players to manage a hit in this one. Berger took the loss, going 5.1 innings, giving up nine hits, three earned runs, and walking two. Ryan Murphy had three strikeouts in 2.2 innings of relief. 

Game Two
Rollins 10, Saint Leo 3

The Tars were swinging hot sticks in game two, putting up an eight on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning. The first five batters reached base via hit, highlighted by a two-run dinger from catcher Diego Garcia, his first as a Tar. As Rollins kept the lineup moving, recording hit after hit, Garcia would come up again in the inning and stroke a two-run double to right, plating Angelo Ramirez and Oscar Murray. The Tars scored eight runs on eight hits in the inning. 

After Saint Leo scored one in the second, Rollins added another run in the third when Jose Perez ripped a single up the middle to score Jack Herring, who had doubled earlier. 

The Lions once again added a run in response, but Rollins still held a comfortable lead. In the top of the fifth, they struck one more time when Perez doubled to the right center gap to score Kyle Singer. The scoring would then finish in the bottom of the fifth when the Lions earned their final run on a sac fly. 

Nate Thomas fired two scoreless relief innings after Ryan Furey went six for the Tars. Ryan Taylor then closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth. 

Every Rollins hitter reached base safely; eight of nine recorded a hit; four recorded multiple hits; eight of nine scored a run; and five of nine had an RBI. Perez was 3-4 with three RBI, and Garcia drove in a career-high four runs. 

Furey took home the win with a quality start, tossing six innings while scattering six hits, allowing three runs, and striking out three.