Following a second-place finish in the Sunshine State Conference, and a Top-10 national ranking for almost the entire year, Rollins will head to Tampa for the South Regional 1 on Thursday as the #4 seed in the region. The Tampa Spartans (40-9), ranked #3 in the country, are the #1 seed and host. Valdosta State (33-18) from the Gulf South Conference is the #5 seed, and Spring Hill College (32-21) from the SIAC is the #8 seed.
Rollins wrapped up the regular season with a 34-16 record, including 22-8 in SSC action. A tough end to the year that included losses in four of their last five games dropped the Tars all the way down to #4 in the region. However, they were in a similar situation last year when they won the South Region as a #3 seed and ended up one game short of the National Championship in Cary, NC. During the regular season, they took two of three games at Tampa, took two of three against #6 Quincy, and won one road game at #5 Colorado Mesa.
OFFENSE
|
Rollins |
Tampa |
Valdosta St. |
Spring Hill |
| R |
382 |
437 |
367 |
468 |
| AVG |
.309 |
.345 |
.290 |
.306 |
| OBP |
.400 |
.439 |
.386 |
.419 |
| SLG |
.492 |
.515 |
.429 |
.444 |
| HR |
64 |
53 |
46 |
36 |
| SB |
58 |
83 |
85 |
234 |
| SO |
351 |
301 |
297 |
248 |
| BB |
223 |
252 |
220 |
265 |
Seven of the nine regular starters for Rollins are hitting above .300.
Jeslyn Whitehead leads the team in average (.374) and hits (82), both Top 5 marks in the SSC.
Parker Smith has been the headliner for the Tars this season, walloping 20 home runs, the second-most in school history. He also leads the team with 48 RBI.
Adams Torres is slashing .358/.416/.517 from second base, and also has six home runs to his name.
Ryan Coleman has been the perfect combination of hitting and power this year, checking in with a .323 average and .613 slugging percentage. He has 30 extra-base hits, including 17 doubles, two triples and 11 home runs. All four players were named All-SSC, with Whitehead and Torres making the first team and Smith and Coleman making second team.
The rest of the lineup is no joke either.
Cameron Meehan has an OBP of .425, and leads the team with 12 steals.
Joey Rubin has been solid from the leadoff spot, scoring 57 runs with a .414 OBP. Catcher
Spencer Sarringar missed nearly six weeks early on, but has been on fire in the last month with a slash line of .356/.458/.478.
The Tars scored the third-most runs, had the third-most hits, and had the fourth-best team batting average in the SSC.
Tampa had the best offense in the SSC, and featured SSC Player of the Year E.J. Cumbo (.429/.471/.631, 52 R, 58 RBI). Outfielder Jordan Lala led the team with a .440 average amd 30 steals, while shortstop JD Urso had an OPS of 1.033. JP Gates is the top hitter for Valdosta State, posting a .394 average with 18 doubles and seven home runs. Bryson Gandy is their heavy hitter, smacking a team-high 12 home runs with 44 RBI. Spring Hill's offense was excellent this season, ranking 15th in the country with 468 runs scored. They were also by far the best base stealing team in the nation, totaling 234 swipes, more than the rest of the field combined. Six different Badgers had more than 20 steals, led by Gage Ragona's 40. Norris McClure is hitting .392 on the year while Jackson Bell has scored 64 times with a team-high 13 dingers.
PITCHING
|
Rollins |
Tampa |
Valdosta State |
Spring Hill |
| IP |
442.1 |
443.1 |
438 |
424.2 |
| ERA |
4.90 |
3.55 |
4.89 |
5.87 |
| WHIP |
1.50 |
1.31 |
1.50 |
1.72 |
| SO |
312 |
405 |
328 |
380 |
| BB |
204 |
147 |
154 |
311 |
Rollins has relied heavily on the 1-2 punch of
Edward Berry (3.71) and
Nick Berger (3.18), whose ERA were Top 8 in the SSC. Berry was named 1st team All-SSC after leading the Tars in strikeouts (63), and limited opposing hitters to a .216 batting average with a 1.12 WHIP. Berger fired 76.1 innings, and started his season with eight consecutive starts allowing zero or one runs.
Tate Stone-Frisina has been a valuable piece out of the bullpen, making 20 appearances while posting a 6-1 record with five saves.
Ryan Murphy and
Spencer Mangum have both been solid in late game situations as well. Murphy has a season WHIP of 0.89, while Mangum picked up five wins in relief.
Tampa had the best team ERA in the SSC by more than a full run thanks to the trio of Alex Canney (8-0, 2.54 ERA), Michael Paul (73.1 IP, 63 K), and Eli Thurmond (4-1, .231 avg against). The Blazers' top arm is Zach Henderson who posted a 3.86 ERA across 65.1 innings. Kevin Tomas is a solid secondary option who started twelve games for Valdosta and had a team-high 51 strikeouts. Spring Hill's pitching was mediocre this year as a whole, but Logan Clark had a great season with a 7-1 record and a 2.24 ERA across 56.1 innings. Evan Langston led the Badgers with eight wins and 71 strikeouts, but also walked 32 hitters.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Tars haven't seen Valdosta State since 2020 when the Blazers swept a three-game set at home. The schools have played six times since 2001, splitting the matches three apiece.
Spring Hill and Rollins also matched up in 2020, kicking off the season. Rollins dropped the opener, but won the last two to take the series.
Rollins saw Tampa at their place three times earlier this year, and won twice. Berry and Stone-Frisina limited the Spartans to only five hits in the series opener, followed by a monster effort from Berger who threw 8.1 innings of three-run ball.
SIMILAR OPPONENTS
|
Rollins |
Tampa |
Valdosta State |
Spring Hill |
| #8 Rollins |
X |
1-2 |
X |
X |
| #3 Tampa |
2-1 |
X |
2-0 |
X |
| Valdosta State |
X |
0-2 |
X |
X |
| Embry-Riddle |
0-3 |
3-0 |
3-1 |
x |
| Saint Leo |
3-1 |
1-2 |
2-0 |
x |
| Florida Tech |
3-1 |
3-0 |
1-1 |
x |
| #15 West Florida |
0-2 |
X |
1-4 |
0-4 |
| Eckerd |
4-0 |
3-0 |
1-0 |
X |
| #6 Quincy |
2-1 |
1-2 |
X |
X |
| Lynn |
2-1 |
3-0 |
X |
X |
| Palm Beach Atlantic |
2-1 |
3-0 |
X |
X |
| Florida Southern |
3-1 |
3-0 |
X |
X |
| Barry |
3-0 |
3-0 |
X |
X |
| Nova Southeastern |
3-0 |
3-0 |
X |
X |
| Georgia College |
X |
3-0 |
0-2 |
X |
| Auburn Montgomery |
X |
X |
3-0 |
1-1 |
| West Alabama |
X |
X |
2-1 |
1-1 |
| Albany State |
X |
X |
1-0 |
1-3 |
SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 18
G1: 1:00 PM - #8 Spring Hill at #1 Tampa
G2: 5:00 PM - #5 Valdosta State at #4 Rollins
Friday, May 19
G3: 1:00 PM - Winner vs. Winner
G4: 5:00 PM - Loser vs. Loser
Saturday, May 20
G5: 1:00 PM - Loser G3 vs. Winner G4
G6: 5:00 PM - Winner G3 vs. Winner G5
Sunday, May 21
G7: 1:00 PM - Same teams from G6 if necessary
University of Tampa Tournament Page
TICKETS
$10 for adults, $5 for children 12 & under, Free 2 & under
