ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team dropped a pair of contests to Rollins, 5-1 and 14-8, at the Turley Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.
Rene Ramos was strong to start for the Tritons, striking out two in the opening two frames, allowing no hits to open the game. A double down the rightfield line by Rollins in the third brought home a run to open the scoring in the game. A sacrifice fly and a two-run homer in the fourth extended the Tars' lead to four in as many innings. Another RBI double by the Tars put them up to a 5-0 advantage over the Tritons.
In the seventh, the Tritons broke the shutout streak when an RBI single by Joe Wike brought home Kyle Ericson, the Tritons' lone run of the game and the last run of the contest.
Eckerd got the early jump in game two, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Tyler Cox came home on a fielding error by the left fielder for the one-run lead. Rollins answered back in the top of the second to tie the game at one.
Eckerd exploded for five runs in the third to take a 6-1 favor. Alex Brazer brought home two on a single through the left side. On the following at-bat, Christian Perez hit a sacrifice fly to score Cox. Kam Gelwick laid down a squeeze bunt scoring Brazer on a failed tag by the catcher. Wike closed out the inning with an RBI single to bring in Eckerd's fifth run of the frame. The Tars once again answered back with a five-run inning of their own in the fourth to knot the score at six.
Perez regained the lead for the Tritons with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. Collier added an RBI single through the right side to give EC the 8-6 favor in the fifth. The Tars were relentless in their comeback pursuit, adding a run in the sixth to shrink their deficit to one. Rollins flipped the script in the seventh, with three runs to take their first lead of the game. They added four more in the top of the ninth to close the game 14-8.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
FINAL: Rollins 5, Eckerd 1
WP: Berger (6-3) LP: Ramos (2-8) HR: Deans
Game Two
FINAL: Rollins 14, Eckerd 8
WP: Murphy (2-1) LP: Grubbs (8-1) S: Taylor (2) HR: Sparber, Wilson, Perez
RECORDS: Eckerd 16-19 (5-13 SSC); Rollins 22-14 (13-8 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Brazer led the Tritons with six hits in the series.
- Lisle led with three RBIs in the series. Wike, Cox, Brazer, and Perez each tallied two across the three games.
- Ramos, Mitch Henneberry, and Wil Stockman each had two strikeouts on the day.
- EC racked up 11 hits in the day's closer, with 29 hits in the series.
UP NEXT
Eckerd hosts Saint Leo on Tuesday for a non-conference midweek matchup at 6:00 PM at the Turley Athletic Complex.
