Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (Apr. 3, 2010)  The Nova Southeastern University baseball team completed their second consecutive Sunshine State Conference series sweep with 15-0 and 7-1 wins over Eckerd in doubleheader at the NSU Baseball Complex on Friday afternoon. The wins, NSU's ninth in a row overall and 14th consecutive at home, improves their record to 23-15 and 7-5 in SSC play. Eckerd falls to 15-17 and 1-11.

"Anytime you sweep a conference series it's a special weekend," said NSU head coach Michael Mominey. "The fact that we've now swept back-to-back conference series makes it extra special. We went from 1-5 in conference play to 7-5. We've been taking care of our home turf. I'm really proud of the guys, you've got to give the credit to the players."

Senior third baseman Rhys Roberts (Parkland, Fla.) capped a seven run second inning in game one with a grand slam over the left field wall. The Sharks continued to hit, scoring 15 runs on 15 hits in the game.

NSU starter Isaac Hicks (Jr., Ft. Myers, Fla.) kept the Tritons at bay, limiting Eckerd to no runs on five hits in six innings to collect his fifth win of the year. Sean Koecheler (Jr., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), James Martinez (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) and Ralph Pena (Miami, Fla.) each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the shutout.

Junior shortstop Luis Penate (Jr., Miami, Fla.) was 3-5 with a home run, two runs scored and four RBI. Senior second baseman Eric McCans (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) also had three hits, going 3-6 with a run scored and a RBI. Roberts concluded the game 1-4 with three runs scored, four RBI, two walks and the grand slam. Senior catcher Matt Fisher (Sunrise, Fla.) went 2-4 with two runs scored and three RBI.

With the score tied at one apiece in the bottom of the second inning of the second game, junior catcher Haven FitzSimmonds (Loxahatchee, Fla.) blasted a two run home run to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead. NSU added two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to cruise to the victory.

Starting pitcher Ryan Whelan (Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.) earned the win, pitching four and one-third innings while allowing one run on four hits. Sophomore Sean Tighe (Hobe Sound, Fla.) and closer Sean Albury (Jr., Nassau, Bahamas) closed the door over the final three innings.

Senior All-America outfielder Brayan Valencia (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) led NSU at the plate with three hits, a run scored and a RBI. Sophomore Nikko Echevarria (Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia) also had two hits.

The Sharks remain at home, hosting Ave Maria at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6th at the NSU Baseball Complex.