WINTER PARK, Fla. (March 6, 2025) - It was a beautiful day for baseball at Alfond Stadium on Thursday, and the Rollins Tars made it even better with a 3-1 win against visiting Tiffin. The Tars, who entered the NCBWA National Poll at #20 this week, improve to 13-4 on the year while the Dragons fall to 7-5.
Ryan Murphy made a statement in the first inning, striking out all three batters he faced. Rollins collected two hits in their half, but could not bring a run in.
The top of the second saw
Jeslyn Whitehead turn a fantastic 5-4-3 double play to end the inning, helping his pitcher out of a jam. The next big moment in the low-scoring affair came in the bottom of the third when Rollins had a runner on third for the first time in the game, but failed to score him.
The scoreboard finally woke up in the fifth inning.
Edward Berry, who replaced Murphy on the mound, made his 2025 season debut. A single, sac bunt, wild pitch, and base hit had the first run of the game go to the Dragons. However, Berry escaped further damage when
Jimmy Thies took his turn flashing the leather, turning a 4-6-3 double play.
Rollins, who came into the game averaging more than eight runs per contest, finally saw their bats wake up in the fifth. Thies started things off with a single, and moved to second on a sac bunt from
Rob Buckley.
Michael Furry was next up, and roped a double down the left field line to plate Thies. After Furry stole third,
Joey Rubin sent a ball to deep right that brought home Furry, giving the Tars a 2-1 lead.
Tiffin had a huge opportunity in the sixth, putting runners on second and third with no one out. In a tremendous show of guts,
Blake Tipmore forced the next three hitters into a groundout, strikeout, and lineout to keep the Tars ahead. In the bottom half, Buckley showed his appreciation for his pitcher with a sac fly to right, scoring
Corey Zientek.
The Tars had the same opportunity as the Dragons in the seventh as Rubin and Whitehead stood on second and third with no one out. Strangely, the next three hitters each grounded out to the pitcher to quell the threat.
After a scoreless eighth,
AJ Seymour was called on out of the bullpen to close the game. It was a quick 1-2-3 inning for the sophomore, who earned his second save of the year.
Murphy earned the win on the pre-planned bullpen day, tossing four innings of shutout ball. He allowed just two hits, walked one, and struck out six. Furry led the offense with three hits, while Whitehead and Thies had two each.
The Tars will be back at it tomorrow when they host the Gannon Golden Knights at Allfond Stadium First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 pm on Friday.
