TAMPA, Fla. (April 12, 2025) - Baseball dropped both of their road games against the top team in the country, Tampa, on Saturday. The Tars now stand at 24-13 overall with a 13-8 record in SSC play. The Spartans improve to 32-6, 16-2 SSC.
Game One
Tampa 9, Rollins 6
After a quiet first, the Tars loaded the bases in the second inning with three singles, but a double play killed the rally. Tampa then turned around and scored twice in the bottom half. They added three more runs in the fourth to open the game up 5-0.
Angelo Ramirez and
Michael Furry each singled to lead off the fifth. Following an out,
Jeslyn Whitehead connected on a three-run home run to left, cutting the lead to 5-3.
One inning later,
Rob Buckley launched his second home run of the year, pulling the Tars within one. Unfortunately, the Spartans had a response ready, scoring four times in the sixth to extend their lead to 9-4.
Rollins did not go down without a fight, rallying in the eighth inning. They used four consecutive base hits to scored twice, but a strikeout with the bases loaded once again nipped the rally in the bud, and no further runs would be scored in the game.
Despite the loss, Rollins collected 13 hits as a team, with five players recording at least two knocks.
Nick Berger took the loss with five runs (three earned) allowed over four innings.
Game Two
Tampa 14, Rollins 5
Another hot start for the Spartans had them up 5-0 heading into the sixth inning of game two. In the top half,
Mason Wilson reached on an error with one out, and was brought in instantly on a
Dalton Pyzer single.
Corey Zientek added a single of his own before Jimy Thies blasted a three-run homer to make it a 5-4 game.
A Tampa home run in the seventh put them up two, but then Thies powered his second dinger of the game in the top of the eighth to once more pull the Tars within just one run.
The wheels fell off in the bottom half of the inning for Rollins as Tampa pushed eight runs on the board with seven hits, two walks, and an error, putting the game out of reach.
Thies' two home runs made him the standout on offense.
Tyler Toro suffered the loss on the mound.
The Tars return home for their next series against Eckerd. Due to Easter weekend, the games will be played on Thursday April 17 and Friday April 18th. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
