LAKELAND, Fla. – Rollins softball opened Sunshine State Conference play with a series-opening win over Florida Southern on Friday night, rallying from an early deficit to claim a 6-3 victory.
Brianna Perantoni recorded the first hit of the evening for the Tars, sending a single up the middle and advancing into scoring position. Rollins came up empty in the frame after a pair of strong defensive plays by the Mocs. Florida Southern answered in the bottom half, stringing together two hits before finding the gap for a two-run score. A Rollins miscue allowed another run to cross, giving the Mocs a 3-0 lead after one.
Both sides were quiet in the second before the Tars began to chip away in the third.
Kaeli Zahradnik drew a walk and stole second to spark the inning. Perantoni's contact moved her to third, setting the table for
Jenna Borkey to drive in the run and cut the deficit.
In the next inning,
Marisa Edevane worked a walk, and
Madi Carr followed with a double down the left-field line to score her, trimming the lead to 3-2.
Reese Twiggs and the Rollins defense kept Florida Southern off the board in the bottom of the middle frames, giving the offense another opportunity.
The breakthrough came in the fifth. Borkey drew a leadoff walk and quickly moved into scoring position with a stolen base before crossing the plate on a single to right from
Rachel Matthiesen to tie the game.
Brooke Theisen followed with a bunt single to put two aboard, and Carr drew a walk to load the bases.
Isabella Golas lifted a sacrifice fly to score pinch runner
Lucy McLogan and give the Tars their first lead of the night.
Claire Long added insurance in the next at-bat, finding the left-center gap to bring home Carr and Theisen and stretch the advantage to 6-3.
Florida Southern threatened over the final innings, but Rollins held firm defensively. The Tars stranded two in the top of the seventh, setting up the Mocs' final at-bat. A hit to the right-field fence put pressure on the defense, but a clean relay to third erased the runner and helped seal the 6-3 victory.
Twiggs earned the win in the circle, improving to 3-1 on the season.
Rollins moves to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in SSC play. The Tars return to action Saturday, February 21, for games two and three of the series against Florida Southern, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
