Collier Homers and Three 'Tuga Hurlers Shut Out Tarpons, 3-0 

DAYTONA BEACH—Cam Collier homered and three Daytona pitchers held the Tampa Tarpons to just two hits as the Daytona Tortugas earned a series split with a 3-0 victory on Sunday evening at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Daytona (21-25, 50-61) earned their eighth shutout victory of the season as Tampa (25-25, 55-59) dropped the final two games after winning three of the first four.

The game began with Daytona putting together a scoring opportunity against Tampa starter Yorlin Calderon. Hector Rodriguez singled and Collier walked with one out, but a flyout and strikeout ended the inning.

That was it for either side for a while. Tortuga starter Johnathan Harmon issued a leadoff walk in the first and a leadoff single in the third, but otherwise was sharp over 4.0 scoreless innings, striking out four in his first start off the injured list.

Calderon, meanwhile, allowed just one hit over 3.1 innings before handing things off to Ocean Gabonia, who retired eight of nine hitters he faced over 2.2 hitless innings.

Nestor Lorant came on in the fifth for Daytona and ran into trouble, walking two with one out and a third with two down to load the bases. However, he buckled down to strike out Roc Riggio to end the inning and preserve the scoreless tie.

Lorant settled down and retired all six hitters faced over the sixth and seventh innings, sending the game to the seventh inning stretch still scoreless with only one hit for each team.

In the bottom of the seventh, though, Daytona finally broke through against Tampa’s Montana Semmel. Yerlin Confidan led off with an infield single and moved to third on a Yassel Pino double. After a groundout held the runners, Connor Burns came through by roping a line drive up the middle to score Confidan, giving Daytona a 1-0 lead.

Cody Adcock then entered to make his Tortugas debut and ran into trouble, plunking the first man he faced before allowing a one-out single. However, he struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, Rodriguez reached on an infield single and scored when Collier blasted a 1-0 pitch from Semmel 395 feet the other way, clearing the wall in left-center for a two-run homer that extended the lead to 3-0.

Adcock came back out and tossed a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the final two hitters to secure a six-out save to end the game.

Daytona will have Monday off before heading to Ft. Myers to begin a six-game series on Tuesday night against the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels. First pitch will be at 7:00 p.m. with pregame coverage from Hammond Stadium with the voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, beginning at 6:45 p.m. on the Tortugas Radio Network.

Daytona Tortugas single-game tickets and ticket packages are on sale now at daytonatortugas.com, (386) 257-3172, or the box office at 110 East Orange Ave.

ABOUT THE DAYTONA TORTUGAS

The Daytona Tortugas are the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of Minor League Baseball’s Florida State League. The Tortugas play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in downtown Daytona Beach, Fla. Jackie Robinson Ballpark also plays host to Bethune-Cookman University, the Jackie Robinson Ballpark Museum, and many community events and initiatives of all sizes throughout the year.