LAKE WALES, Fla. – On Tuesday afternoon, the Royals baseball team welcomed the Cougars of Clearwater Christian College to their home field for a mid-week non-conference matchup. It took over three hours, and four lead changes to find a winner but it was the Royals who were victorious 15-14, winning the game in walk-off fashion.
Jeff Dally got the start on the mound for the Royals and went two complete innings. Dally allowed six runs on just two hits. Bobby Barradas came in as relief in the third, and tossed four shutout innings for Warner. Barradas allowed just one hit and struck out five batters.
Behind Barradas' strong showing on the mound, the Royals offense gained momentum and cut the lead down to 6-5. Broderick Rodocker doubled to right field in the home half of the third to score Randy Rodriguez. Then, with the bases loaded, Zach Quillian hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Rodocker. Kevin Gregg also scored for the Royals on the same play after two throwing errors by the Cougars defense. Ram Ayala scored off a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth to put the Royals within one.
It remained a one run game until the eighth inning. The Cougars plated four runs in the top half of the inning, including a three run shot over the left-field wall and regained the lead 10-5. The Royals answered right back with seven runs of their own in the bottom of the eighth. Kevin Gregg and Dylan Gross both drove in two runs for Warner to kick-start the comeback. Quillian, Chris Mejia, and Kyle Collins also recorded RBIs in the inning as well.
Heading into the top of the ninth, the Royals needed strong defense, shut-down pitching, and just three outs to seal the victory. The visitors had other plans and scored four more runs to retake the lead 14-12 in the top of the ninth. The Royals offense kept scrapping and managed to pull out a win. Gregg drove in his third run of the game with a deep single to the short-stop and loaded the bases. Pinch-hitter George Kirkland was hit by a pitch and walked in the tying run. Quillian was the hero for the Royals, driving a ball down the right-field line to score Rodocker for the walk-off victory.
The Royals offense combined for 15 hits in the victory, with six players recording a multi-hit performance. Tomas Rivera went 2-for-3 with two walk against the Cougars. Zach Quillian went 2-for-4 at the dish and drove in three runs. Randy Rodriguez finished the day 2-for-5 and scored four runs for the Royals.
Eric Green (2-2) earned the win for the Royals. Green went two-thirds of an inning, allowing no runs and only one hit. The win improves the Royals to 14-31-1 on the season.
The Royals will welcome the Gyrenes of Ave Maria University on Friday, April 17th for the opening game of their final Sun Conference series of the season. Friday's game is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch. The series will conclude on Saturday, April 18 with a double header beginning at 12 p.m. Saturday will also serve as Senior Day for five of the Royals who will be honored before first pitch of game one of the double header.
