Powerhouse offense leads Rollins baseball back to D-II semifinal stage
Rollins’ first championship appearance is within reach. Again.
The No. 4 seed Tars scored in every inning except one Monday night, overpowering top seed Millersville (Pa.), 17-4, to advance to the winner’s bracket of the Division II semifinal round in Cary, N.C.
They will play Thursday at 1:30 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday’s Millersville-CSU San Bernardino elimination matchup.
Saturday, Rollins posted a 7-1 against No. 5 San Bernardino while Millersville struggled to pull out a 6-5 victory against No. 8 Indianapolis. The Maruders trailed by two in the top of the seventh inning until a 3-run homer in the bottom of the seventh pulled it out.
Millersville continued to struggle. Rollins (41-17) came out even stronger.
The Tars put Millersville in a 5-run hole in the first inning. Jeslyn Whitehead’s sacrifice fly to center field brought in Joey Rubin for the first run.
Mason Wilson batted 2 runs in with a single to center, scoring Ryan Coleman and Adams Torres.
Parker Smith’s sacrifice fly to right and an errant throw allowed Cameron Meehan to score. Wilson scored an unearned run to close out the first and Rollins added two more runs in the third to go up 7-0.
Stunned, the Marauders were unable to recover.
Millersville did rally for 3 runs but that was as competitive as it would get. Chase Simmons hit a home run and Jimmy Losh’s score off of Sam Morris’ single to center field ending the scoring drought. Thomas Caufield crossed home plate on a fielder’s choice.
Rollins responded to choke off any hopes of a serious comeback by the Marauders.
Torres’ 2-run shot in the bottom of the seventh increased the lead to 10 and Spencer Sarringar added a 2-run double to center field.
Last season, Rollins lost to Point Loma (San Diego) last season in the semifinal round, 2-0.
If the Tars can get past the semis, they’ll make their debut in the national championship series.
