BOX SCORE
WINTER PARK, Fla. – 35 runs, 38 hits, 428 pitches and four hours and fifteen minutes of baseball were seen at Alfond Stadium all while the University of West Florida baseball team erased a nine-run deficit to defeat Rollins College, 20-15.
"They showed a lot of tenacity. They had a lot of fight in them," said UWF head coach
Mike Jeffcoat. "Big win for us, good for us to win our first series but we still have a lot of work to do on the mound going forward ."
Rollins built an 11-2 lead after an eight-run, eight-hit third inning. After a scoreless fourth inning, UWF kept the bats awake for the rest of the contest by scoring at least two runs in every inning for the final five frames.
The Argonauts eventually got over the deficit with a five-run eighth inning.
Brandon Harmon singled to score
Robert Lopez and bring UWF within one run at 14-13. In the ensuing at bat,
Chase Kiefer tied the game with a single of his own, scoring
Matt Sullivan, before the Argonauts gained a 15-14 lead with a
Nic Strasser single to score Harmon.
After Rollins scored a run in the eighth, UWF added three insurance runs in a ninth inning featuring one hit, a hit by pitch and two Rollins errors.
The top three spots in the lineup of Kiefer,
Nic Strasser and
Justin Ambrosino combined to go 12-for-19 with 11 runs scored and posted six RBI.
Kiefer went 4-for-6 with a career-high five runs scored and had a pair of stolen bases to move into fifth in career steals at UWF. Strasser posted a 3-for-6 day with three runs scored, while
Justin Ambrosino posted a career-high five hits in seven at bats with four RBI and now leads the Gulf South Conference with 11 RBI on the season.
Collectively, the Argonauts posted a .471 batting average (24-for-51), a .500 average with runners on base (19-for-38), and a .407 clip with runners in scoring position (11-for-21).
Jarrod Petree earned his first win of the season with two innings of relief, allowing just one run on two hits.
Steve McClellan notched his first save of the season and sat down Rollins' 4-5-6 hitters in order including two strikeouts in the ninth inning.
"Down 11-2, we knew there was a lot of ball game left," said Ambrosino. "We just tried to chip away each inning. We felt that if we got a couple runs in that inning that we still had a chance."
UWF will play Auburn-Montgomery at home at 5 p.m. on Wednesday before opening GSC play on Saturday against Mississippi College.
