WINTER PARK, Fla. – The West Alabama baseball team battled back from an 11-1 loss to Rollins College in game one to beat the Tars 3-2 in game two splitting the double header at Alfond Stadium on Saturday.

“I thought we played very sloppy in the first game, but I thought we showed the most intensity and overall well-played game in the second game,” said UWA head coach Gary Rundles.

“I don’t think our kinds were fully prepared to play in game one. When we got down by four runs we just seemed to lay down completely. We talked about that before game two and I think our guys showed us the kind of character they have. They really battled back from an awful game and played a very solid game. I was very proud of them.”

West Alabama picked up its third win of the season to improve to 4-9 with a chance to win its second series. Rollins falls to 3-6 on the season.

Rollins’ starting pitcher Brett Mueller recorded his first win of the season in game one. He pitched through seven innings and allowed only one run, six hits and tallied six strikeouts. West Alabama starting pitcher Barry Meeks gave up six runs and 10 hits to pick up his first loss of the season.

The Tars right fielder Lucas Valelly ended game one with one run and four RBI’s on two hits. Zach Persky ended with two runs after a homerun in the bottom of the second inning. Matthew Magee accounted for the only West Alabama run in the top of the second.

In game two Taylor Bratton picked up his second win of the season to improve to 2-1. He gave up only two runs in five innings. The Tiger’s closing pitcher Jeremy White entered in the final inning and tallied two strikeouts to secure the UWA victory. Rollins’ pitcher

Taylor Smith pitched the entirety of game two, but gave up three runs on seven hits in his first loss of the season.

Jocobby Robinson, Mitch Holgate and Luigi Mendez recorded the three Tiger runs in game two. Robinson and Holgate led at the plate with two hits in three at bats each. Boston Langley and Steve Betcherman recorded the two runs for Rollins.

The Tigers will wrap up the three game series with Rollins tomorrow, February 24. The first pitch has been moved to 10:00 a.m.

“Tomorrow I hope we come out with that same intensity and fight that we showed in game two today,” said Rundles.