Junior starter Shane Haight pitched a gem against Rollins. saintleolions.com
April 14 was a day of celebration that couldn’t have ended any better. Saint Leo alum, Fred Cambria ’70, was having his jersey retired and placed in the Saint Leo Hall of Fame. It was on this day that Saint Leo baseball also played their best, sweeping the Rollins College Tars 8-4 and 5-0 to pick up Sunshine State Conference series sweep No. 4.
After a tough weekend last week where the Lions got swept, they bounced back well and made another team feel what it’s like to get the broom on them. The Lions now improve to an impressive 29-8, while being 12-6 in the SSC this season.
During these games five pitchers saw action: junior Shane Haight, sophomore Joey Antonopoulos, senior Drew Tumbelty, junior Peyton Isaacson and senior Tyler Bauman. All of these men had incredible performances on the diamond, recording a combined 0.00 ERA. Antonopoulos and Tumblety pitched more than one inning and Haight pitched seven. By the end of the games, the entire staff only allowed 10 hits and a 1.50 ERA; they held the opposing team to a low .167 batting average, completely shutting them down.
As for the hitting, they were just as on fire as the pitching staff; all nine Lions recorded at least one hit on the day. The charge was led by none other than seniors Chase Turner and Zach Scott.
In the first game sophomore Ryan Nolan came in the first inning to record three strikeouts in the 23 batters he faced. He also surrendered six hits and three runs with two being earned.
Zach Scott continues to be an offensive force when he singled through the right side of the infield to bring home junior Jared Morello. Then junior Brett Coffel doubled to right field to score Turner.
The second inning continued the hot hitting when junior Aaron Portee hit a single and stole second base. Sophomore Amir Wright eventually singled through the right side to score Portee; this run then gave the Lions a four-run lead early in the game.
During the fifth inning the Lions were up 4-1 before scoring two more runs on Scott’s double who was then brought home by Coffel. Coffel then scored on senior Derek Gibree’s single to right field, giving the Lions a 6-1 lead. Rollins scored two more runs in the sixth, but the Lions came back with one of their own making the score 7-3. Both teams then scored one more time in the last inning giving the first game to the Lions 8-4.
Although game two was supposed to be played Sunday April 15, it was agreed upon by the two teams to play a double header because of the bad weather that was supposed to hit Sunday.
Just like the last game during game two, the Lions came out strong by scoring in the first innings. A sacrifice fly to left field by Turner brought in Morello for the first run of the game. A fielding error by the Tars’ second baseman allowed Morello to score. A poor effort to retrieve the pass ball let Isaacson round third and also score in the inning. The Lions eventually took a 4-0 lead that would hold for some time.
Four scoreless innings came to a close when the Lions scored again with a sacrifice fly by Coffel to center field. This allowed Scott to walk home from third giving the Lions their fifth and final run in the top of the eighth.
Saint Leo’s next game with be played April 20 in Melbourne, FL with a 6 p.m. start against the Florida Tech Panthers; the three-game series will be a three-day event.
