ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd College baseball team suffered a hard loss Friday night as Rollins College scored three runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Tritons 11-8 at the Turley Athletic Complex in their Sunshine State Conference series opener. The Tritons are now 17-21 over all and 1-5 in the SSC, while the Tars improve to 27-15 over all and 9-7 in the conference.
Rollins made their way onto the score board first as the Tars scored two unanswered runs in the top of the first innings. They eventually scored to more the following inning due to a two-run homer over the right field fence. Eckerd quickly answered back as they scored two runs of their own in the bottom of the second on a two-out double down the left field line by Wess Hollins that brought home Stephen Pelc and Aaron Shapiro to cut the lead to 4-2.
After Rollins scored two more runs to give them the 6-2 lead, the Tritons scratched three runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning to gut the lead, 6-5. Chris Clinton started the inning off with a base hit up the middle, then quickly stole second base. After dishing out a walk to Minner Labrador, David Regidor made his way on base due to a fielder's choice, but the Tars were unsuccessful in making out, allowing Clinton to score on the play. With another walked issue to the Eckerd offense, Dan Branca hit a bases loaded single to the left side to bring home Labrador to make it a 6-4 game. The final run of the inning came from Pelc's single to right field that brought home Regidor to cut the Tar lead by one. Eckerd was able to tie the game in the sixth inning, but the Tars took advantage of errors made by the Triton defense to score two runs in the seventh inning to take the 8-6 lead.
But, Eckerd didn't give up, as they were able to tie the game up again after due to base-hit RBI's made by Hollins and Labrador. However, the tie was short lived as Rollins managed to scatter two hits and three runs in the ninth inning to take the game away from Eckerd.
Labrador and Pelc each had three hits on the night for the Tritons. Labrador went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and one run, while Pelc went 3-for-5 with two runs and one run batted in. Branca, Regidor, and Hollins each had two hits a piece.
Jake Wilder had the start for the Tritons, pitching 6.1 innings, giving up eight hits, eight runs, three walks, and four strike outs. Francisco Collazo, Adam Whitlow, and Chris Ayral all made appearances on the mound. Johnny Lancaster suffered the hard loss, as he pitched 1.1 innings, giving up two hits, two runs, and one walk.
The Tritons will conclude their series with Rollins tomorrow, as they get ready to hit the field for double-header action. The first game is set to start at 1:00 pm.
