NCAA Division II Baseball Championship Bracket
TAMPA, Fla. – For the first time in program history, the No. 6 Nova Southeastern University baseball team (39-16, 18-6 SSC) is going to the NCAA Division II World Series in Cary, N.C. after defeating the No. 14 Delta State University Statesmen (41-17, 23-10 GSC) in a winner-take-all game in Tampa on Monday afternoon by a score of 3-1. Jonny Ortiz earned his sixth win of the year and Devin Raftery earned the save, his 14th of the year.
After dropping game one of the final, the Sharks rode the back of Jonny Ortiz and Devin Raftery to get them to Cary, N.C. "To get the performance we did out of Jonny Ortiz and to have Devin Raftery shut the door, he's just amazing," said head coach Greg Brown. "I don't know that I will ever coach a kid with the amount of talent that he possesses on the mound."
The Sharks got on the board first when Daniel Zardon launched a 1-0 fastball over the left field wall to make the score 1-0. NSU scored again in the third inning when Kevin Suarez singled to left field, scoring Sebastian Diaz. Continuing to extend their lead, NSU took a 3-0 lead in the fifth when Andres Visbal smoked a single to right field on a hit and run play, moving Suarez over to third. As Suarez was rounding third, head coach Greg Brown caught the second baseman sleeping and sent Suarez to the plate where he slid in safely.
Delta State was able to score one run in the sixth inning, but the MVP of the South Region tournament shut the Statesmen down from there on out, recording strikeouts in six of the final 11 outs he earned.
"This is a monumental accomplishment for the NSU baseball program," said Director of Athletics Michael Mominey. "It's great to see the Sharks are finally going to Cary, N.C. with the chance to win a national championship."
While Raftery was named MVP, Daniel Zardon, Kavan Thompson and Brandon Gomez were named to the South Region All-Tournament team.
The Sharks will play the winner of the East Region, the Franklin Pierce Ravens, on Sunday, May 29th at 1:00 p.m. in Cary, N.C.
Stay tuned to nsusharks.com for more information on the baseball team's #RoadToCary and follow the team on Twitter at @NSU_Baseball.
