Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team split a double-header with Rollins College on Saturday thanks to an early explosion at the plate in the series finale.
The Tritons (8-9, 2-7 SSC) scored 10 runs in the first three innings of game two on the way to an 11-6 win. Eckerd also took an early lead in the opener, but the Tars rallied for an 8-5 win.
Eckerd got RBI singles from
Jake O'Rourke,
Daniel Autiello,
Grant Banko and
Justin Glover in the first inning of game two as the Tritons jumped ahead, 5-0. EC then scored four more runs in the second with O'Rourke and Autiello delivering another RBI single each along with a sacrifice fly from
Lucas Luopa.
Nick Hill drove in Eckerd's 10th run in the third inning with a single down the left field line, extending his hitting streak to 10 games in the process.
The Tritons, meanwhile, got a solid performance on the mound from freshman
Dillon McCollough (2-1) who allowed just two runs in five innings while striking out five.Â
Nick Alonzo,
Kevin Plant and
Zach Hoppe continued the trend in four combined relief innings, recording 10 of the final 12 outs on strikeouts.
EC's final run of the game happened as the result of an odd sequence that saw Hill score from the plate after drawing a walk. Ball four was also a wild pitch, and Hill hustled to take an extra base. The Rollins catcher attempted to throw him out, but the throw was wild and got past the centerfielder allowing Hill to cross home plate.
Eckerd also got off to a quick start in the first game with two runs in the first inning on a
Matt MacMahon single and a Luopa grounder. The Tritons doubled the lead in the third inning with a successful squeeze by Luopa and an O'Rourke RBI single. Peter Nicoletto put Rollins on the board with a solo homerun in the top of the fifth, answered by O'Rourke in the bottom of the inning to make it 5-1.
However, the Tars (15-8, 4-2 SSC) pulled within one after a three-run sixth, then took the lead in the seventh with two more runs and padded the lead with two in the eighth.
Alex Moore had a solid start in taking a no-decision, allowing just two hits and one run over five innings. The bullpen struggled in the opener, with
Kevin Kane (0-1) taking the loss.
MacMahon led EC at the plate in the first game, going 3-for-5, while O'Rourke, Hill and
Tom Buonopane all had two hits. Buonopane, O'Rourke and Autiello each had two hits in the second game.
The Tritons will visit Florida Southern on Tuesday for a non-conference contest beginning at 6:00 PM.
