TAMPA, Fla. (May 16, 2026) - Rollins baseball saw their 2026 campaign come to a close with a 9-2 loss at the hands of host #2 Tampa in the NCAA South Region II tournament on Saturday. The Tars finish the year with a record of 36-16, while the Spartans improve to 44-8. 

Rollins had a chance to capitalize early in the first with leadoff man Joey Rubin making it to third base with two outs, but he was not brought in. Tampa made the Tars pay in the top of the second when they plated three runs, helped by a double, a walk, and three singles to go up 3-0. 

In the bottom half of the second, a single to right from Stephen Deans brought in Connor O'Sullivan to make it 3-1. However, in the top fo the fourth, Tampa's potent offense turned up and put the game well out of reach. 

Jesse Ponce led off with a double, followed by a single and a walk to load the bases. After a pop out, Jordan Evans singled to bring in one run, followed by a two-out grand slam from Jhoander Irigoyen to make it a 8-1 in the blink of an eye, 

Rollins got one run back in the fifth when Joey Rubin, playing in his final career game, ripped a single up the middle to plate Mauri Bejarano. In both the sixth and seventh innings, Rollins carded extra-base hits, but were not able to bring any extra run support. 

An RBI double from Brayden Woodburn in the eighth closed out the scoring to make the final of 9-2. 

Tampa outhit the Tars 13-7 in the game. Rollins pitchers struck out the Spartans eight times, including four from JR Struk and three from David Austen. Unfortunately, the eight earned runs they put on starter Brody Meyers were too much to overcome. John Luke Glanton earned the win with seven innings of two-run ball to move to 12-2 on the year. 

Rubin was the only Tar to reach base multiple times, recording two hits and a walk with an RBI in the game.

This is the first time since 2010 that Rollins made the NCAA playoffs and did not advance past the Regional round. Still, the Tars put together an impressive year that saw them picked to finish fifth in the preseason SSC poll before reaching #7 national ranking earlier this year.