Rollins Pitching Shuts Down Tritons in Series Sweep

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Entering this weekend's series, Rollins led the Sunshine State Conference in earned run average.

The Tars showcased their dominant pitching again on Saturday on the way to a doubleheader sweep of the Eckerd softball team, 4-0 and 9-1, after holding the Tritons scoreless last night.

Abby Summers carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the day's opener but saw her bid spoiled by a one-out Kassy Torres single. It was a small blemish on an otherwise outstanding day that saw her fan 14 batters, tying her career high.

In the finale, the Tritons finally got a run on the board in the fourth inning on a Nikole Van Gennep RBI single, but the Tars had already scored six runs by that point and added three more in the fifth to earn a run-rule victory.

HOW IT ENDED
Game 1
Final: Rollins 4, Eckerd 0
WP: Summers (10-1)  LP: Costa (2-3)

Game 2
Final: Rollins 9, Eckerd 1 (5 innings)
WP: Worrell (15-3)  LP: Van Gennep (6-15)
Records: Eckerd 11-25 (3-15 SSC); Rollins 30-5 (14-4 SSC)

KEY MOMENTS
Game 1

• While Summers was dominant in the circle for Rollins, Ally Costa matched her through the first four innings keeping the Tars from scoring stranding four runners along the way.
• Raiven Bryant led off the top of the fifth with a triple off the left-centerfield fence and Rollins followed with back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs. Costa got a strikeout and a lineout to almost escape the inning giving up only one run, but walked Talia Kentoffio to give the Tars a 2-0 lead.
• Rollins added two more runs in the sixth via a two-out single by Ashley Worrell.
• After Costa drew a one-out walk, Torres broke up Summers's no-hit bid with one out in the seventh on a single to left-center. Summers recovered and struck out the next two batters to end the game.

Game 2

• The Tars loaded the bases with one out in the top of the third for Grace Street to clean them off with a triple down the left-field line. Kentoffio followed with a single to score Street and put Rollins ahead, 4-0.
• Eckerd threatened in the bottom of the third, loading the bases with two outs. Avery Wakefield lined a Worrell pitch into shallow right field but Rollins second baseman Abby Sexton robbed her with a diving over the shoulder catch.
• Two doubles in the fourth gave Rollins a 5-0 lead, and Kentoffio later drove in another run on a two-out single to center to make it 6-0.
• The Tritons got on the board in the bottom of the fourth after Hannah Famiano reached via error to lead off the inning. Famiano moved to second on an Olivia Oppeltz sacrifice bunt and scored on a Van Gennep single down the third-base line.
• Rollins struck again in the top of the fifth, scoring three runs with two outs to put the Tritons in danger of the run rule.
• Torres reached in the bottom of the inning on a two-out single but was stranded as the game ended after five innings.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• The weekend sweep extended the Tars' winning streak to 10 games.  Rollins leadoff hitter Jordan Davis went 7-for-8 on the day, raising her batting average to .522 for the season.
• Van Gennep went 3-for-3 in the final game of the series.
• Rollins maintained its spot atop the SSC standings at 14-4 holding a 1.5 game lead over Tampa.

UP NEXT
The Tritons travel to face Nova Southeastern next weekend with a single game on Friday at 6:00 PM.