ST. AUGUSTINE – The Flagler College bats were all but silenced tonight by three Rollins College pitchers in a 6-2 loss Tuesday night at Drysdale Field.
Rollins extended its winning streak to four game and improved to 5-1. Flagler dropped to 5-3.
Three Rollins pitchers combined to strike out 17 Flagler batters and limit the team to just three hits. Starter Garrett Leonard retired the last 10-of-11 batters he faced. He struck out 11 batters.
The Saints took advantage of a couple of Tars miscues to take an early 1-0 lead.
Jason Moore led off with a sharp grounder through the hole at shortstop and then advanced to second when
Frankie Martello reached on an error by the Rollins third baseman.
Ja'Kobi Dasher followed by grounding out to second, but the throw to force out Martello at the bag was wild, which allowed Moore to score.
The Tars took a 2-1 lead in the seventh, but the Saints were able to tie the game in the home-half of the inning on
Sean Lawlor's lead-off home run.
Rollins answered with three runs in the top of the eighth. Nick Santucci hit a lead-off double and advanced to third on a fly out. With runners at the corners, Kyle Hintz laid down a squeeze bunt a couple of feet in front of the plate. Flagler relief pitcher
Nick Martinez tried to flip the ball to catcher
Zach Heming, but Santucci beat the throw to the plate. The next batter, pinch hitter Luke Reidy, hit a two-run double to left field to give the Tars a 5-2 lead.
Anthony Trovato (2-0) tossed an inning in relief and picked up the win. He allowed one hit on one run. Whit Drennan was nearly flawless in the last two innings to earn the save. He struck out five batters and the lone blemish was a hit batter.
Santucci went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored for the Tars. Jack Gonzalez belted a solo home run in the seventh.
Kyle Hansen (0-1) pitched one-third of an inning and allowed two runs on one hit.
Austin Kunde started and fanned six batters in three innings.
Ryan Ashworth,
Dante Pagano,
Nick Martinez, and
Colt Mink also saw time on the mound.
Frankie Martello had the other Flagler hit, a double in the fourth inning.
Flagler opens Peach Belt Conference play this weekend at Francis Marion University. The first game of the three-game series is Friday at 6 p.m.
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