GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team (13-7, 2-1 SSC) clinched the Sunshine State Conference opening weekend series Saturday with a win against the No. 6 Tampa Spartans (14-7, 1-2 SSC), 7-6, before falling in the final game of the series at the NSU Baseball Complex, 8-7.

In the Sharks’ victory, Carlos Asuaje (Fr., Weston, Fla.) hit a stand-up double off the wall in the bottom of the ninth and scored the game-winning run off Luis Penate’s (Sr., Miami, Fla.) walk-off single. It was the second walk-off hit of the season for the Sharks. Asuaje finished the game 2-for-4 with three runs.

Penate went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a two-run home run in the first inning. It was Penate’s second home run of the season and tied the game before Daniel Petitbon (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) hit his second home run of weekend. Petitbon’s bomb went past left centerfield and put the Sharks up, 4-2, after the opening frame. 

Ryan Whelan (Sr., Davie, Fla.) started and picked up three strikeouts over five innings. Torey Ekey (Sr., Merritt Island, Fla.) had one of his best appearances of the season in relief as he entered the seventh inning with no outs and the bases loaded. Ekey got out of the inning by holding the Spartans to one run and kept his team on top going into the ninth. Sean Albury (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas) (2-1) gave up a run in the ninth but earned his second win of the season.

Coming off a 6-4 win over Tampa the previous night, the Sharks faced a team looking for redemption as the Spartans scored two quick runs off Whelan in the first inning. Whelan allowed the first four runners to reach base but got out of the inning with only two runs against NSU. The Sharks immediately took the lead in the bottom of the first on Penate and Petitbon’s jacks.

With a 4-2 lead, the Sharks tacked on two more runs in the second frame. Ray Navarro (Jr., Miami, Fla.) walked and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Asuaje walked and stole second, putting two runners in scoring position. Areo Regoli (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) pushed his team-high RBI total to 24 by driving in both runners on a single up the middle.

The Sharks went on a six-inning scoring drought as Tampa slowly chipped away at their four-run lead. The Spartans scored two runs in the fifth and another in the seventh. Albury took the mound in hopes of his sixth save of the season and retired the first two batters. With two outs on the board, Tampa’s Heath Pritchard hit a game-tying homer that just crossed the left field fence.

The Sharks did not keep the game going for long as they only had three at bats in the ninth. Asuaje hit his double to left centerfield with one out on the board before Penate immediately followed with his game-winning single to left field. Penate ended the weekend by making a strong case for SSC Player of the Week as he has hit .500 with eight RBI over the last four games.

In the second game, the Sharks almost overcame a 7-0 deficit but lost their first conference game of the season, 8-7. Andrew Durden (Sr., Port St. Lucie, Fla.) hit his sixth home run of the year in the fifth inning, scoring three runs and cutting his team’s deficit to one run. Durden’s six home runs this season currently sits atop the conference leaderboard. Durden reached base in every plate appearance, going 2-for-2 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, two runs and three RBI.

Nick Avila (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) made his second relief appearance of the series and allowed four hits and no earned runs over 2.1 innings pitched. Avila had four strike outs, three of which were consecutive. Sean Tighe (Jr., Hobe Sound, Fla.) (1-4) was perfect over the first three innings but earned his fourth loss of the season.

Despite Tighe’s strong start, the Shark offense could not build a lead as they only recorded one hit over the first three innings. The wheels came off in the fourth as the Spartans, who statistically have the top offense in the SSC, tallied seven runs on six hits in the top of the fourth.

Despite trailing, 7-0, the Sharks did not concede but instead scored three runs in both the fourth and fifth frames. Penate hit a leadoff double to left centerfield before Durden reached base on a hit-by-pitch. Petitbon continued his strong play with an RBI single to left centerfield, scoring Penate.

The Spartans then made it easy for the Sharks Tampa forced a runner home off of two straight doubles before Petitbon scored on a passed ball. Michael Hartley (Sr., Davie, Fla.) would have scored easily as well but the home plate umpire made a controversial call in which he deemed the ball went out of play and into the dugout. In the end, Hartley’s run would have been the equalizer.

Durden’s fifth inning home run was set up by Penate and Regoli and cut the Sharks’ deficit to a run. Penate hit a one-out single to left centerfield before Regoli reached on an error by the shortstop. With runners on the corners, Durden blasted the ball over left field for his first three-run homer of the season. Petitbon followed with a double down the left field line but was stranded at second.

Tampa scored on a passed ball in the sixth but the Sharks answered returned serve in the bottom of the frame. Hartley, Navarro, and Asuaje all reached base to start the inning. Penate followed with an infield fly ball that was dropped by the second baseman, allowing pinch runner Alan Avila (Jr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) to score. The Spartans intentionally walked Durden to load the bases which proved to be a smart move as Tampa’s Aaron Gerbasi struck out two batters to end the inning.

The Sharks had a chance to tie the game in the seventh as Nikko Echevarria (Abqaib, Saudi Arabia) led-off with a walk before reaching second on an error. With one out on the board, Haven Fitzsimmonds (Sr., Loxahatchee, Fla.) hit a fly ball to left centerfield that turned into a double play as Echevarria was too far down the base path to return in time. The Sharks had the tying run in scoring position in each of the last three innings and left five runners on base over that span.

Over the entire 2-1 series victory against the SSC preseason favorite Tampa Spartans, the NSU defense was spot on as they did not commit an error over three games.

The Sharks will return to the NSU Baseball Complex this Tuesday, March 15 for a game against Franklin Pierce beginning at 6 p.m.