FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After winning the first NCAA South Regional Tournament title in program history, the No. 6 Nova Southeastern University baseball team (39-16, 18-6 SSC) has placed three student-athletes on the ABCA All-South Region First Team, as Alex Mateo, Devin Raftery and Brandon Gomez have each earned their third postseason All-South Region awards. Mateo was named First Team starting pitcher, Raftery First Team relief pitcher and Gomez First Team designated hitter.
 
Mateo is 8-4 this year and has posted a lower ERA than he did as a junior, at 3.21 ERA. With 91 strikeouts in 98.0 innings pitched, Mateo is just nine strikeouts and two innings away from becoming the first to reach 100 in either category since current Houston Astros starting pitcher Mike Fiers set the single-season strikeout record of 145 in 108.2 innings. In just two years as a Shark, Mateo's 184 career strikeouts rank second in the program's NCAA era. Mateo was one of two pitchers in the SSC to have an ERA lower than 3.00 against conference opponents, the other being his teammate Julian Loret de Mola.
 
Raftery has been rewarded for a remarkably dominant season. Raftery has 14 saves and 82 strikeouts in just 46.0 innings pitched. Those 14 saves are the program's single-season NCAA record and second-most all-time, only two out of first place, while his 82 strikeouts and 16.03 strikeouts per nine innings are both records among relievers. Raftery enters the Division II College World Series with the lowest single-season ERA in program history among pitchers with at least 30 innings, at 1.17. Raftery's best performance came on the final week of the regular season when he struck out 11 hitters in four innings, setting the single-game record for strikeouts in relief, and the most by any Sharks pitcher in a game this season. Raftery has recorded a strikeout in 44 consecutive relief appearances dating back to last year, and his 16 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of the South Regional Tournament, which earned him the tournament Most Valuable Player Award, were the most by a pitcher in any of this season's eight regional tournaments, while also giving him 128 in his two-year Sharks career, breaking the program record for a reliever, previously held by Sean Albury (2008-2011) at 125.
 
Lastly, Brandon Gomez has led a power surge for the Sharks, helping the team set a program record of 80 home runs this season. Meanwhile, his 20 individually rank second in a single season in program history. The junior is second in the Sunshine State conference in both home runs and RBI with 71, also tying the NCAA era single-season RBI record, set by Justin Garcia last year. In addition to home runs and RBI, Gomez also leads the team in runs scored (53), hits (74), triples (3), total bases (155) and slugging percentage (.708).