ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team nearly completed its second upset of No. 11 Rollins, but their ninth-inning rally fell short as they dropped the opener, 12-11, at the Turley Athletic Complex Friday afternoon. Rollins took the second game, 18-5, to take the SSC series.
RC opened the first game with four runs in the opening inning, but EC responded in the bottom of the frame for three runs via a solo blast by Mikey Burke and a two-run homerun by Tyler Cox.
Both teams added a run in the second frame, with Dimerson Nunez delivering a sacrifice fly for the Tritons. The Tars posted three runs in the third, but Eckerd responded for three runs via a Danny Gutcher double and a pair of RBI singles by Michael Ballard and Nunez.
Rollins tacked on three runs in the fourth. Eckerd added two runs in the sixth on a Mitch Donofrio RBI single and Cox's sacrifice fly before Rollins tacked on an insurance run in the seventh.
EC rallied in the ninth with a two-run homerun by Jake Andriole. Eckerd had two runners in scoring position with one out. However, EC was unable to push the tying run across, dropping the opener 12-11.
Rollins continued their offensive outburst for an 18-5 victory in the second game. They added three runs in the opening frame, one run in the third, and another three runs in the fifth. Eckerd finally got on the board in the fifth on a two-run single by Nunez.
EC added another run in the sixth on Joe Muzio's sacrifice fly to make it an 8-3 Rollins' lead. However, the Tars opened up the game with 10 runs in the seventh inning.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
FINAL: No. 11 Rollins 12, Eckerd 11
WP: Stone-Frisian (4-1) LP: Lawry (1-3) S: Long (5) HR: Burke (1), Cox (2), Andriole (3), Torres (6), Meehan (3)
Game Two
FINAL: No. 11 Rollins 18, Eckerd 5
WP: Berger (1-1) LP: Perry (3-2) HR: Santucci (12)
RECORDS: Eckerd 15-20 (8-10 SSC); No. 11 Rollins 28-11 (13-8 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Nunez led Eckerd in the opener with four hits, while Andriole and Gutcher each had three. Cox led the team with three RBIs.
- Nunez, Andriole, and Ballard each collected two hits in the finale.
- Ballard and Nunez both went 7-for-12 in the series, while Nunez added five RBIs and three runs.
- Andriole extended his reached base streak to 25 games while Joe Wike pushed his to 22 games.
- Eckerd collected 17 hits in the opener, their second-best mark of the season.
UP NEXT
Eckerd returns to the Turley Athletic Complex next weekend for another SSC series, hosting Lynn on Friday at 6:00 PM.
