WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 14, 2025) –It was a beautiful day for the Rollins College Tars to get back to their winning ways Friday afternoon, doing just that with an 8-1 victory over the Nova Southeastern Sharks. The Tars took full advantage of two errors defensively by NSU in the bottom half of the second, where they scored six runs and never looked back.
Tyler Toro took the mound for his third conference start of the season and was sharp once again. The junior right-hander tossed 6.1 innings, allowing just one run on eight hits while striking out four and walking one batter. In the process, Toro lowered his ERA to 2.87, and turned in his sixth start of the year where he allowed three earned runs or fewer. The effort was good enough to give him his second win on the season, exiting in the seventh with the Tars in command.
The comfortable lead was built in the bottom of the second when Nova Southeastern gifted the Tars a few opportunities. After a leadoff walk by
Dalton Pyzer,
Chris Sparber reached base on a dropped routine fly to center. One batter later,
Rob Buckley made the Sharks pay, roping a double to right to keep the momentum going with nobody out.
Jimmy Thies followed suit with an RBI single, giving the Tars a 2-0 lead in the blink of an eye.
Following two quick outs, including a beautiful sac bunt by
Angelo Ramirez,
Joey Rubin reached base on chopper to short. A typical 6-3 put-out would have ended the frame, but an error gave
Jeslyn Whitehead a chance to step up with two men aboard – and boy did he capitalize. Whitehead smashed a three-run homerun to left-center to double the Tars lead, making it 6-0. Whitehead's dinger was his second on the season.
With a solid lead, Toro was able to pitch comfortably, and he was aided by fantastic defense. The Tars turned three double plays on the day including a beauty of the 5-4-3 variety to end the seventh. Toro had just exited with the bases loaded, and
AJ Seymour was tasked with mitigating the damage. A phenomenal play by Whitehead at third, and a quick turn by Thies at second, helped the Tars dodge any damage all together. Seymour stayed on to pitch the eighth and the ninth where he remained scoreless for his fifth straight outing.
Buckley and Thies were outstanding all game, providing a boost from the bottom of the lineup. Buckley had three hits with a pair of doubles to his name, while Thies had four base knocks and three RBI.
The Tars will be back in action tomorrow for a double header with the Sharks beginning at 12pm. A win would clinch three straight SSC series to open the season for the first time since 2023. Catch the action live from Alfond Stadium or on-demand on Rollinssports.com.
