WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 17, 2025) - It wasn't the prettiest game, but Rollins was able to bounce back from a four-run deficit to take control and ultimately defeated the Saint Michael's Purple Knights 13-6 on Monday. The win moves the Tars to 17-6 on the season, while the Knights drop to 1-8.
Saint Michael's came out swinging, recording three hits and driving in two runs in their first set of at bats. They threatened again in the second, but
Jack Haynes was able to strand runners on second and third to escape further damage. In the bottom of the second,
Dalton Pyzer led off with a single and worked himself around, scoring on a sac fly from
Angelo Ramirez to cut the lead in half.
The Purple Knights struck again in the fourth taking advantage of a two-out error from Rollins to score three times in the inning, putting them up 5-1. Undaunted, the Tars struck for three runs of their own in the fourth, using two hits, an error, and a pair of sac flies to stay within reach at 5-4.
Rollins then tied the game in the fifth thank to
Jimmy Thies. The junior singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third, and then was awarded home on a balk to tie the game.
After
Jackson Edelman worked around two baserunners in the sixth, the Rollins offense finally showed what they are capable of with a huge inning. They started the inning with three straight walks. Following a pitching change,
Mason Wilson took the first pitch he saw over the right field fence for an opposite field grand slam. That was followed by five consecutive hits from the Tars before another out was made. Rollins added two more runs late in the inning on an error and a
Joey Rubin RBI single, making the score 13-5.
Saint Michael's got one run back in the seventh, but that was the end of the scoring for both sides.
Bennett Durkin and
Jeslyn Whitehead closed things out on the mound for Rollins, who picked up their fourth consecutive win.
The two teams combined for eight walks, two hit batters, two balks, and eight errors in the Monday afternoon contest. Still, there was plenty of offense to go around. Rollins struck for 14 hits, with five players recording more than one knock. Pyzer led the team with three hits, while Wilson was the top run producer with four RBI. Strangely enough, Whitehead, who leads the entire conference in hits, was the only player not to pick one up.
Edelman secured his fifth win of the year in relief, tossing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
The two teams will meet once more on Tuesday, March 18 at Alfond Stadium, First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
