SAINT LEO, Fla. (May 9 2024) - Nine innings of tight baseball turned into a blowout in extra innings as the Rollins Tars defeated #6 Saint Leo 12-4 on Thursday. The win moves Rollins to 25-20 on the year and 16-12 in SSC play. The Lions drop to 37-10, 20-8 SSC.
Callan Moss started the scoring in the bottom of the first with a solo home run off Rollins starter
Edward Berry. The junior righty received an instant shot of support in the next at bat though.
Oscar Murray led off with a double to right, and would come around to score on an error from the Saint Leo first baseman. Two batters later,
Angelo Ramirez, who had reached on the error, scored on a single from
Matthew Farner to make it a 2-1 game.
Innings three, four, and five went by quickly as Berry and Luke Lashutka each settled into a groove on the mound. The sixth inning would change the flow of the game as
Jack Herring led off with a triple to center. He was immediately brought in by
Jose Perez, whose shot to center was good for a sac fly.
In the seventh, Ramirez copied his teammate Herring, and also led off with a triple. After a strikeout, Farner came through once more with a seeing-eye single through the left side that scored Ramirez and make it a 4-1 game.
The Lions finally got to Berry in the seventh, scoring twice in the bottom of the inning thanks to a hit by pitch, a triple, and a sac fly. After a quiet eighth, Moss came through once more for the Lions with a solo shot off
Jacob Burr to tie the game at four and send it to extras.
All of Saint Leo's momentum instantly evaporated in the top of the tenth when Herring led off the inning with a solo bomb to right center. The next five Tars would reach base safely, highlighted by a Ramirez two-run double. The first out was even effective as
Stephen Deans launched a sac fly to right. The Tars would collect three more hits in the inning, including a single from
Kyle Singer that scored Ramirez, his first career hit and RBI. By the end of the madness, Rollins had scored eight runs on six hits, going up 12-4.
Burr induced two fly outs and a groundout in the bottom half to close out the game, giving him his second win of the season.
Eight different Tars had a hit in this one, led by a double, triple, and home run from Herring. Ramirez and Farner each chipped in two hits and two RBI as well. Murray reached base four times in the game.
Berry turned in a quality start with seven innings, four hits, three runs, and six strikeouts.
The two teams will wrap up their regular seasons tomorrow with a doubleheader. Rollins needs to win both games to have a shot at the NCAA South Regional, while the Lions probably need to win both in order to claim the #2 seed and home field advantage in the playoffs. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
