#21 Stonehill Outdueled by Rollins, 7-2


Billy Karalis collected RBIs on both of Stonehill's runs (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Lattanzi's two RBIs lead the Tars past the Skyhawks

Winter Park, Fla (March 7, 2013) – The Stonehill College baseball team, ranked 21st in the most recent NCBWA national poll, was defeated by the Rollins College Tars in a non-conference matchup at Alfond Stadium on the campus of Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla.

Rollins was led by redshirt senior Brian Lattanzi (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) who drove in a two RBIs on the night. Brett Flutie (Natick, Mass./Natick) and Zach Persky (Solon, Ohio/University School) also chipped in with RBIs for Rollins who have now won eight straight games.

Junior Billy Karalis (Pawtucket, R.I./Bishop Feehan) collected RBIs on both of Stonehill's runs. The right fielder had two hits, including a double for the Skyhawks on the evening.

Brett Mueller (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla./Ponte Vedra) earned the win for the Tars, going seven innings and giving up two earned runs on five hits. The sophomore struck out five Skyhawks on the way to his second victory of the year. Isaiah Sakany (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Beacon School) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for Rollins, giving up just two hits and one walk.

Sophomore Jim Duff (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) was tagged with the loss for Stonehill. Duff pitched six innings, giving up seven runs (five earned) on five hits and three walks, while striking out four. Ryan Rougeot (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) relieved Duff and pitched two scoreless innings, yielding only one hit in the outing.

Karalis helped Stonehill jump out to an early 1-0 lead in the first. Following a Chris Hoyt (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) lead-off double and a James DeAlto (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff) sacrifice bunt, Karalis hit a sacrifice fly , plating Hoyt and giving Stonehill the lead.

Rollins responded in the bottom-half of the first to take a 2-1 lead. With men on first and third, Lattanzi launched an RBI double down the right field line to tie the game at one. Persky then grounded out to the shortstop to plate another run for the Tars.

Rollins would extend its lead to 4-1 in the second. Flutie started the inning reaching base when he was hit by a pitch. After Hunter Mayfield (Tallahassee, Fla./Lawton Chiles) singled, Evan Rivera (Orlando, Fla./FSC-Jacksonville) advanced Mayfield and Flutie with a sacrifice bunt. Flutie then scored on a wild pitch, leading up Lattanzi's RBI ground-out to make it 4-1.

The Skyhawks chipped away at the lead in the fifth inning. Karalis notched his second RBI of the day when he doubled home DeAlto to cut the lead to 4-2. The Tars would put the game out of reach in the sixth inning when they added three runs to make it 7-2.

Stonehill (7-5, 0-0 NE-10) returns to action to take on Assumption College in a non-conference matchup tomorrow afternoon at 2:30. Next up for Rollins (11-6, 0-0 SSC) is a meeting with Assumption tomorrow night at 6:00 pm.

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