Box Score

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team starts the season 5-0 for the first time in program history with a road win against the Barry Buccaneers (3-2) Tuesday night, 9-7.

Areo Regoli (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) put together his finest collegiate performance as he went 3-for-5 with six RBI and a grand slam. With two outs, bases loaded and the Sharks down 7-6, Regoli ripped a game-winning two-run single to left field. The Sharks posted an additional run before Sean Albury (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas) picked up his second save of the year.

Regoli’s first collegiate grand slam came in the third inning and put the Sharks up 4-0. It was Regoli’s second home run of the year, both of which sailed over right centerfield. This was the first grand slam since Luis Penate (Sr., Miami, Fla.) hit his against Barry on April 9, 2010. Both grand slams came against starting pitcher Brad McAlllister.

“This is my first year of serious college baseball and I was put in a situation where I needed to get it done,” said Regoli. “I didn’t put a lot of pressure on myself because my team backed me up.”

Isaac Hicks (Sr., Fort Myers, Fla.) (1-0) pitched well in his second outing of the year. He threw five innings and picked up four strikeouts while allowing only one earned run. After Barry took the lead, Torey Ekey (1-0) was brought in to stop the bleeding and earned the win. He allowed one hit and fanned three batters in 2.1 shutout innings.

Hicks put himself in a pickle at the start of the game as he allowed two hits and a walk over the first four at bats. With the bases loaded, Hicks and the Shark defense got out of the inning unscathed with a strikeout and a groundout to third base. Both teams had runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings but neither squad capitalized.

Down by four, the Bucs cut NSU’s lead in half in the bottom of the fifth with two runs, one of which was unearned. The Sharks answered back with one run in the sixth frame. Haven Fitzsimmons (Sr., Loxahatchee, Fla.) led off with a single to left centerfield, his second of the game. Pinch runner Alan Avila (Jr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) entered and was sent home on a single through the right side from freshman Carlos Asuaje (Fr., Weston, Fla.).

The Bucs went up 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth with their biggest frame of the game. The Sharks seemed to be putting away another quick inning until a fielder’s choice placed a runner in scoring position and extended the inning. With two outs, Barry posted five runs despite recording only three hits.

The Sharks failed to make noise in the eighth but rallied back in a dramatic ninth inning. Asuaje reached on a fielder’s choice before Barry placed three runners on base, scoring one, with a walk and two hit batters. With the bases loaded, Regoli drove home Asuaje and Andrew Durden (Sr., Port St. Lucie, Fla.) to go up by a run. Michael Hartley (Sr., Davie, Fla.) put the icing on the cake by driving in one more run with a single up the middle.

Albury entered the game in the bottom of the ninth and retired all three batters, striking out one. He now has two saves in two appearances.

Fitzsimmonds went 2-for-2 on the night with a walk while Asuaje hit 2-for-4 and reached base three times.

First year head coach Greg Brown, whose wife gave birth to their second baby girl yesterday, becomes the first coach in NSU baseball history to start a season 5-0.

The Sharks will return to the NSU Baseball Complex for a matchup with Palm Beach Atlantic on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m.