Rollins Tars beat Bentley Falcons 7-2

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

Rollins College beat Bentley University 7-2 on Friday night’s baseball game at Alfond Stadium in Winter Park, marking the second victory for the Tars over the Falcons in as many days. 

The Falcons drew first blood in the fourth inning; pitcher Nate Witkowski hit a single toward right field that took Bryant Johnson from second base to home. 

But the fourth is also where the Tars made their bread and butter. Loading the bases twice, Rollins was able to upstage Bentley with five runs when their turn to bat came. It was a lead the Falcons weren’t able to surpass for the remainder of the game. 

“We took a lot of pitches that inning,” said Rollins’ Head Coach Jon Sjogren. “When we swung the bat we were in deep counts. Their pitcher threw close to 40 pitches that inning and just started getting tired and left the ball open a little bit. I think we did a good job not swinging at his better pitches early. He was throwing five or six pitches per hitter, and then as we started getting bases he started getting tired and making more mistakes and we were able to attack.”

Infielder Kevin Mager, who ended the 2011 season with a .381 batting average, was one of the top scorers for the Tars on Friday, with two hits, three RBIs and one run.

“Kevin played well,” said Sjorgren. “He had two big hits and two big spots in that fourth inning and then had another one at the end that really helped; it probably kind of goes on singing, but he was able to let us relax a little bit.” 

Mager was put on the 2012 Tino Martinez Award Watch List and holds the record for triples in a season in Rollins’ baseball program.  He attributes the fourth inning runs to good hitting and “team chemistry.”

“Hitting is contagious,” Mager said. “We just got it going and were able to take advantage of some pitches in the zone.”

Hunter Mayfield also drove in the first of two RBIs in the fourth that sent Anthony Figliolia and Brian Lattanzi across the home plate, as well as scoring two runs in the game. 

Pitcher Taylor Smith was also praised for his ability to keep the Falcons from hitting. “Taylor Smith threw just over 100 pitches in eight innings, and only gave up five hits,” said Sjorgren. “You get stats like that and you’re going to win games.”

“Taylor gave a great performance tonight,” said Mager. “A lot of the rest of us are in the bull pen for the next two games. Our hitting has been there and I think it’s going to get better.”

This is the second victory over the Falcons for Rollins; Thursday’s matchup had the Tars winning at 10-4. The next two in the four game series are on Feb. 18 and 19, once again at Alfond Stadium in Winter Park.

UCF women’s basketball guard Aisha Patrick makes record

By Fred Lambert
flambert@valenciavoice.com

Knights women’s basketball guard Aisha Patrick led her team in points on Sunday’s game against the University of Alabama Birmingham’s Blazers, but she’d already proved her meddle in scoring.

Patrick was honored on Jan. 12 with a commemorative team ball, recognizing her as the 15th UCF women’s basketball player in school history to score an accumulative 1000 points. The recognition came during an away game at UAB when she hit her mark. The awarded ball had “1000 points” and her name printed on it.

“The significant thing about me getting a thousand points is that I don’t look to be a shooter; I like defense,” said Patrick after the Knights’ victory over the Blazers. “I try to get the steals and I get the easy points, and teams don’t look at me as a scoring threat.”

The tally after Sunday’s game puts her at an added total of 1,109 points. Patrick, whose played for the Knights since 2008, holds the number nine spot in total points for the school’s women’s basketball program, along with number three for most rebounds at 770, number four for assists at 343, number two for steals at 270 and number six for most free throws made at 243.

A 5-foot 9-inch senior from Rockledge, Fla., Patrick averages 13.9 points per game. She scored 12 for her team in Sunday’s matchup, along with 10 rebounds.

“Really proud of Pat, because she led the way tonight,” said Knight’s coach Joi Williams. “She played 40 minutes and no turnovers, a double-double – we couldn’t ask for more from her.”

Sunday’s double-double puts Patrick in the top five slot for UCF’s women’s basketball program’s all-time double-double list.  She is the only guard out of six players in the Conference USA to record at least 10 double-doubles, and she’s led her team in steals for eight out of the last 12 games.

Outside of point scoring, Williams gave Patrick high praise on defense, leadership and rebounds.

“I’m just extremely proud of her,” said Williams. “She’s meant a lot to our program since she was a freshman. For her to be able to achieve that milestone means a lot, and she’s a player that does a lot of different things. The ball was for a 1000 point scoring, but she affects the game in so many different ways, so it’s really neat to see her get that award.”