TAMPA, Fla. (May 21, 2023) - The Rollins Tars continued their recent dominance of the nationally-ranked #3 Tampa Spartans, defeating them 7-6 on the road on Sunday afternoon in the elimination game of the NCAA South Region 1. The Tars now stand at 37-17 on the season, while Tampa's season ends with a record of 43-11.
The two teams were meeting for the third time in three days, and sixth time this season. Rollins defeated Tampa on Friday, but fell to the Spartans on Saturday night, leading to a winner-take-all scenario on Sunday.
The Tars got on the board in the first thanks to
Joey Rubin. The leadoff man singled, stole second, and came around to score on a
Cameron Meehan single with two outs.
After
Edward Berry shut down the Spartans in the first, the high-powered offense struck for four runs in the second with a grand slam off the bat of Jose Cadenas to make it 4-1.
Unphased, the Tars answered back quickly in the top of the third. It was Rubin striking again, this time for a solo home run to center to shave one off the lead. After a groundout,
Jeslyn Whitehead singled to left, and stole second with two outs. Meehan came through once more, sending a base hit to left center to bring in Whitehead. He was followed by
Mason Wilson, whose double to right center scored Meehan and tied the game at four.
The Tars weren't done. In the top of the fourth,
Spencer Sarringar and Rubin each singled, putting two on with two outs. Whitehead stepped up, pushing a ball through the right side of the infield to plate Sarringar. after a pitching change, a wild pitch allowed Rubin to touch home for the third time, making it 6-4 Rollins.
Tampa put two on in the fourth with no outs, chasing Berry from the game.
Ryan Murphy came on in relief, and kept the Spartans off the board with a sac bunt, a strikeout, and a groundout.
Rollins wrapped up their scoring effort in the fifth when a single from Sarringar plated
Mason Wilson, who had walked earlier in the inning.
Tampa put two on again in the fifth, but a pair of strikeouts from Murphy gave them another zero on the board.
In the sixth, Tampa loaded the bases, leading to an appearance from
Tate Stone-Frisina. The six-year vet casually forced a groundout from SSC Player of the Year EJ Cumbo to quell the threat.
The seventh inning saw some tension boil over as Tampa DH Jamarcus Lyons gestured and had words for Stone-Frisina after he was hit by a pitch. An RBI single from Nico Saladino made it a 7-5 game, but Stone-Frisina ordered up a 1-6-3 double play to the next batter to keep the Tars on top.
Per usual, the Spartans did not give up or go down easily. Once again, they put two on to lead off the inning with no one out. This prompted head coach
Jon Sjogren to move Whitehead from first to the pitcher's mound. Miscommunication on a bunt loaded the bases, and Cumbo delivered a line drive to right.
Kyle Bullock made a miraculous diving grab, but the sac fly brought in a run. The next two hitters succumbed to the pitching arsenal of Whitehead as he struck out both, leaving two men on.
Whitehead then when groundout, lineout, flyout in the bottom of the ninth to wrap up the game and advance the Tars to the Super Regional.
Rubin was 3-5 with three runs scored and an RBI. Sarringar matched him with three hits, scoring once and driving in one. Meehan, who played phenomenally all weekend, added two hits and two RBI to his season total. Whitehead's two hits give him 90 for the year, the 4th-highest mark in program history.
Murphy took home the win on the mound with 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. Whitehead earned the save with a line of 1.1 innings one hit, zero runs and two strikeouts.
Rollins finishes 4-2 against Tampa on the season, with all six games being played at the Spartans' home field. They went 41-7 against the rest of their opponents.
Next up for Rollins is a chance to host the South Super Regional. Barry University, the #6 seed, defeated the #2 seed West Florida Argonuats over the weekend, and will now travel to Winter Park to take on the Tars. First pitch of game one will be played on Friday, May 26 at Alfond Stadium.
