SAINT LEO, Fla. (February 27, 2026) – Baseball opened their road SSC series against Saint Leo with a 6-4 win on Friday, extending their win streak to nine games. The Tars now stand at 11-4 on the year with a 4-0 mark in SSC play. The Lions fall to 8-6, 0-4 SSC.
In the top of the first,
Joey Rubin made it to second base when the Lions' centerfielder dropped a shallow pop up. Two batters later,
Michael Furry brought him home with a double to left.
Matthew Mateo then returned the favor for Furry, driving him in with a single to right field.
Saint Leo got one run back in the third on a sac fly that scored Dylan Mass, who had reached earlier on an error.
The Tars had big chances in the fourth and fifth innings to improve their position, but left runners in scoring position both times, including loading the bases with no outs in the fifth. They paid for it in the bottom half when the Lions put together a two-out rally with Mass scoring for the second time in the game.
After
Jimmy Thies was stranded at third in the top of the sixth, Saint Leo took their first lead of the game when Abrahan Rios took
AJ Seymour deep to left, making it 3-2.
Rollins finally got their offense working in the seventh, taking advantage of a pitching change from the Lions. Rubin led off with a walk, and moved to third on a
Collin Hughes single. Furry then delivered a single to left that plated Rubin. Three batters later, Thies drove a double off the wall that scored Hughes, but Mateo was cut down at home on a nice relay throw, keeping the score 4-3.
In the seventh, Seymour did a great job stranding a pair of runners in scoring position when he got Rios to fly out to center.
The eighth inning was quick, followed by a fun ninth. Hughes and Furry each walked to lead off the frame, and were both brought home on a double off the centerfield wall from Mateo. In the bottom half, the Lions used a double and a single to score once. Seymour then dug in and retired the next two hitters with the tying run at the plate in the form of Rios.
Head coach
Jon Sjogren called for
JR Struk out of the bullpen to close the game. On a 1-0 pitch, Rios launched a sky high fly down the left field line, but it hooked foul. Struk then induced two straight swing and misses for the game-saving strikeout.
Thies reached base five times in the contest, going 4-4 with three doubles and a walk, plus a pair of stolen bases. Furry added three hits, two runs, and two RBI. Mateo went 2-4 with three RBI, while Rubin and Hughes each scored twice.
Greenseid threw five innings in a no decision. Seymour earned the win with 3.2 innings of relief. Struk secured his second save of the season with his strikeout.
The two teams are slated to play again at 1pm on Saturday, February 28. However, the possibility of rain may cause a change in the schedule. Stay tuned to RollinsSports.com for the latest updates.
