TAMPA, Fla. (May 16, 2026) - Facing elimination in the NCAA South Regional, Rollins received a solid start from Tyler Toro, and a fantastic relief effort from AJ Seymour to defeat the #6 seed West Alabama Tigers 5-2 on Saturday afternoon. The win eliminates West Alabama, and moves the Tars to another matchup with #2 Tampa on Saturday evening. Rollins now stands at 36-15, while the Tigers end their year at 35-17. 

Rollins was primed to strike early when Michael Furry singled with two outs, followed by a smoked bal to left center from Jayden Brown. Furry would have scored on the play, but the ball hopped over the wall for a ground-rule double. Connor O'Sullivan walked to load the bases, and a foul out ended the inning with no runs scored. 

Toro breezed through the second inning, and received the jolt he needed from the offense in the bottom half. Matthew Mateo led off with a walk, moved to second on a sac bunt from Stephen Deans, and then third on a groundball from Mauri Bejarano. Leadoff man Joey Rubin then came through in the clutch with a double to center field for the RBI. Collin Hughes followed with a single to left that plated Rubin to make it 2-0. 

West Alabama broke through in the fourth with an RBI groundout. Then, in the fifth, they put the first two runners on base, leading to a pitching change. Seymour entered the game, and the Tigers small-balled in the tying run with a groundout before he got out of the jam by stranding two runners in scoring position. 

The Tigers were switching pitchers constantly in this one, and their moves in the sixth did not pay off. Mateo drew another lead off walk, followed byb a similar result to Deans. Bejarano followed with a soft tapper to the pitcher, but the throw was errant, allowing Mateo to come around and give Rollins the lead. A wild play sapped the momentum from the Tars when Rubin chopped a ball to third; the fielder tagged Deans at the base and then got Rubin at first. 

Seymour allowed just one base runner in the seventh and eighth innings combined, and was rewarded with insurance in the Tars' final at bat. Deans was hit by a pitch, and moved to second on a sac bunt. The next three hitters all walked as well, bringing Deans home. After a second out, O'Sullivan drew a walk as well, forcing in Rubin to make the score 5-2. 

Seymour then left a runner on first, using a nasty slider to strike out the final hitter of the game to seal the win. 

In the relief win, Seymour tossed five innings, allowing just one hit, no earned runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. Toro was strong in his four innings, scattering four hits while allowing the two runs. 

On offense, Rollins only managed five hits. However they drew twelve walks in the game, as well as two hit batters. O'Sullivan had a wild line in this one, going 0-0 at the plate with four walks, a HBP, and an RBI. Rubin was on three times, scoring twice and driving in one. Hughes and Furry were each on three times as well. 

The Tars will have a little over an hour to regroup before they face Tampa in the nightcap. A Rollins win leads to a winner-take-all matchup on Sunday. A loss ends their season. First pitch is scheduled for 5pm.