ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 24, 2026) - After a disappointing showing on offense last weekend, the Rollins Tars more than made up for it on Friday in the series opener at Eckerd. The Tars set a season high for runs and hits in a 24-4 drubbing of the Tritons. The win moves the Tars to 28-12, 18-7 SSC while the Tritons are now also 28-12, but have a 16-6 record in the SSC.
The first inning was one of two in the game with no runs scored. In fact, the first six batters of the game were retired in order. The second inning saw a run scored on a bases loaded bit by pitch from
Mauri Bejarano, but still, the bats were not exactly rocking.
Rollins added two runs in the third thanks to a
Collin Hughes double, a walk and steal from
Michael Furry, and an infield single from
Matthew Mateo to make it 3-0.
Eckerd got their first hit in the third, and had two on with no out. They attempted to bunt the runners over, but a slick play from
Connor O'Sullivan at first had the lead runner gunned down, squelching the momentum.
The fourth inning saw the Tars explode for six runs on six hits as they batted around the lineup.
Joey Rubin highlighted the inning with a two-run blast to center, while O'Sullivan had an RBI single, two stolen bases, and a run.
After a scoreless fifth, Rollins was back at it in the sixth with eight more runs. The Tars recorded five hits, drew three walks, and took advantage of a two-out error to add three extra runs in the inning when
Collin Hughes went deep for the second time this season. In the bottom half,
Noah Greenseid worked around a one-out double to keep wrap up his scoreless day on the mound.
Four more runs went on the Rollins tally in the seventh on only two hits. One of those hits was a solo home run from Mateo, his first longball since March 3rd against Seton Hill.
Mason Elrod added a pinch-hit two-run double to make it a 21-0 game. After a slew of lineup changes, the Tritons managed to break through in the bottom half, plating four runs.
Rollins added one in the eighth on a Jonah DiCocco RBI groundout, and then two more in the ninth that included an RBI single from
Tyler Meyer. Senior
Anthony Matteis stranded the bases loaded in the ninth to preserve the 24-4 win.
The numbers from this game were straight out of a video game. Eleven players scored at least once. Thirteen players had at least one hit. Thirteen players drove in at least one run. Mateo had four hits. Hughes scored four times and drove in three.
Michael Furry reached base four times with three runs and two RBI. In fact, all nine starters on offense had at least one hit and one RBI. And on the mound, Greenseid moved to 5-1 on the season with his quality start of six innings, four hits, no runs, and four strikeouts.
Rollins' 24 runs scored is their most in a game since April 30, 2023 against Florida Southern.
The two teams will matchup again on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm.
