LAKELAND, Fla. (May 9, 2025) – Baseball dropped their third straight game on Friday, falling to the #11 Florida Southern Mocs by a score of 12-4. The Tars now stand at 29-19 overall with an 18-11 record in the SSC. The Mocs improve to 36-13, 20-9 SSC.
Southern jumped all over Rollins starter
Nick Berger in the first inning, tagging him for five runs on six hits, putting the Tars in a big hole early.
Rollins showed some life in the third as
Corey Zientek started the inning with a single, moved to second on a walk, and third on a sac bunt from
Stephen Deans. Three batters later,
Mason Wilson brought him home with a bases loaded free pass. Unfortunately, the next hitter popped out, leaving the bases loaded.
Things got very interesting in the fifth. Deans led off with a single, and moved to second on a
Jeslyn Whitehead fielder's choice. Wilson was up next, and absolutely demolished a ball over the wall in left for a three-run homerun, pulling the Tars within one at 5-4. It was his 16
th homerun of the season, which is the fourth-highest total in program history.
Despite the momentum, Southern struck back in their half of the fifth, plating four more runs on five hits, including a two-run blast from Ahmad Fitts to go up 9-4.
The Tars threatened in the sixth with two men on and no outs, but a double play ball and groundout quelled the threat. The Mocs then added three more runs in the bottom, using two walks and three stolen bases to wreak havoc and make the score 12-4.
Neither side threatened in the last three innings. A hat tip to
Connor Hensley who came on in relief in the seventh and fired a pair of shutout frames.
Wilson was the offense for Rollins, driving in all four runs to move his season total to 69. Similar to his home run number, that is the fourth-most RBI in a season as well.
The series will wrap up on Saturday in Lakeland at noon. The Tars desperately need a win to keep their NCAA Regional chances alive.
