McCollough Fans 13, Tritons Down Rollins to Open Series

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Dillon McCollough threw one of the best games of his career on Friday night leading the Triton baseball team to a 3-1 win over Rollins in the series opener at the Turley Athletic Complex.

McCollough struck out a career-high 13 batters over eight innings while allowing five hits and one unearned run while Joey Favetta closed the door in the ninth by striking out the last two hitters.

Garrett Hiott went 3-for-3 and the Tritons scored a pair of late runs that helped make the difference in the game.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: Eckerd 3, Rollins 1
Records: Eckerd 11-15 (4-9 SSC), Rollins 16-9 (4-3 SSC)
WP: McCollough (2-2)  LP: Enck (2-2)  Sv: Favetta (2)

KEY MOMENTS

• McCollough was on from the start, striking out the first six batters he faced.  Rollins starter Cameron Enck was equally effective as both pitchers only allowed one hit in the first three innings.
• Eckerd broke through in the bottom of the fourth to take a 1-0 lead. Mitch Calandra led off the inning with a single, then swiped second to set the stage for Hiott who singled to right-center field bringing Calandra home.
• After being unable to touch McCollough for the first five innings, the Tars finally threatened in the sixth after back-to-back singles by Isaiah Russell and Brendan Brundage to lead off the inning.  EC turned a key double play, however, when Chase Achuff made a diving stop behind the bag at second. The next two hitters reached on a walk and hit-by-pitch, but McCollough left the bases loaded after getting Brian Brooker to line out.
• The Tritons scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Hiott beat out an infield single to lead off the inning, then advanced to third on a wild pickoff attempt.  Shane LeMaster's fly ball to left field was deep enough for Hiott to tag and score.
• McCollough's shutout bid ended in the eighth after a walk and an error put runners on the corners with no outs. He struck out Nick Breen but Bryce Peterson's deep fly ball to right field scored Brundage from third.  McCollough, however, got out of the inning with no further damage recording his 13th strikeout when he fanned Brooker.
• EC added an insurance run in the eighth when Calandra delivered a two-out double down the right field line to score Nick Conti from first.
• Joey Favetta took the ball in the ninth where he allowed a leadoff single to Grant Ashline who then advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Favetta got a groundout for the inning's first out, then struck out the next two batters to leave Ashline stranded and earn the save.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• McCollough's 13 strikeouts set his new single-game record for the second time this season.  He previously fanned 12 on March 2 against Florida Tech. It was the most in a game for an Eckerd pitcher since Joey Cuda struck out 14 against Tampa on April 27, 2012.
• McCollough also surpassed the 200 career K mark where he now ranks 10th in program history with 207.
• Hiott's 3-for-3 performance was his third three-hit outing this season.  Calandra had two hits for his team-leading 11th multi-hit game.

UP NEXT
The two teams wrap up the weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12:00 PM.