GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team (10-6) picked up two wins Saturday afternoon at the NSU Baseball Complex against the Saint Rose Golden Knights. The Sharks blew out the Golden Knights in the first game, 18-5, and took the second by coming back from five runs down to win, 8-5.

The Sharks won the opening game in their biggest blowout of the season as they scored a season-high 18 runs on 14 hits. Haven Fitzsimmonds (Sr., Loxahatchee, Fla.), Luis Penate (Sr., Miami, Fla.), and Anthony Angulo (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) all hit their first home runs of the year and combined for 10 RBI. Andrew Durden (Sr., Port St. Lucie, Fla.) followed suit and passed Areo Regoli (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) for the team lead in home runs with his fifth of the year.

Isaac Hicks (Sr., Fort Myers, Fla.) (3-1) cashed in another win by striking out six batters and allowing only two runs over six innings pitched. On the season, Hicks has picked up a team-high 26 strikeouts while holding batters to a .229 average.

NSU put forth a steady offensive attack at the start of the first game as they scored runs in the first six innings, including one in each of the first three frames. Regoli, who now holds a Sunshine State Conference-best 21 RBI, drove a runner home in the first before Carlos Asuaje (Fr., Weston, Fla.) hit a sacrifice fly to plate Ray Navarro (Jr., Miami, Fla.) in the second.

Durden led off the bottom of the third and hit a bomb over left centerfield, collecting one of his team-high four runs in the game.

The Sharks pulled away from the Golden Knights in the third inning by scoring four runs. Asuaje led off the frame with a walk and later scored on a wild pitch. With Luis Penate (Sr., Miami, Fla.) and Durden on base, Fitzsimmonds hit his first home run of the season to right centerfield. The homer drove in three runs and put the Sharks up, 7-0. Fitzsimmonds would collect a team-high four RBI in the game. The Golden Knights cut into the home team’s lead by scoring twice in the top of the fifth.

NSU’s best inning of the season came in the fifth when the Sharks posted a season-high nine runs. The side seemed to be a quick one at first when Saint Rose’s Kevin Scrobola started with two straight outs. He would go on to allow seven hits, including two home runs, and see every batter in the lineup score. Penate started the action with a two-run bomb to left centerfield. Regoli and Durden then walked before Fitzsimmons singled through the right side and sent Regoli home.

Angulo cleared the bases with a three-run homer to left field that put the Sharks up, 13-2. Navarro, Asuaje, and Penate completed the nine-run inning with three RBI singles. The inning marked the first time the Sharks scored nine runs in an inning since their 14-4 home victory last season against Saint Leo on April 17, 2010.

In his first start as a Shark, Daniel Petitbon (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) picked up his first RBI of the season when he plated Durden with a single through the right side in the sixth inning. Later in the side, Navarro would drive in his team’s final run with an RBI double to right centerfield.

The Golden Knights scored three times in the eighth inning but never threatened to cut into NSU’s double-digit lead. Ryan Whelan (Sr., Boca Raton, Fla.) closed the game with three strikeouts in the ninth inning. In the end, a season-high six NSU batters recorded multiple hit games.

The second win of the day was much more dramatic as NSU came back from a five run deficit late in the game. Dusty Maggs (Sr., Satellite Beach, Fla.) hit his second home run of the season in the sixth inning, starting a seven-run rally that sealed NSU’s 10th win. Sean Tighe (Jr., Hobe Sound, Fla.) (1-3) picked up his first win of the year by pitching two shutout innings in relief, allowing only one hit.

Prior to Maggs’ home run, Nick Avila (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) started in his fourth game of the season and struggled, allowing eight hits and five earned runs over the first four innings. As the Golden Knights built a 5-0 lead through the first four frames, the Sharks put runners on base but could not send them home, stranding five runners on base before scoring in the fifth inning.

Nikko Echevarria (Jr., Abqaib, Saudi Arabia) scored his team’s first run in the fifth when he hit a leadoff double to left centerfield and later scored off a fielder’s choice.

The Sharks made their comeback in the sixth frame as Fitzsimmonds led off with a single to right field. Maggs created the team’s momentum with his home run over right field, cutting the deficit to two runs. Michael Hartley (Sr., Davie, Fla.) followed with a walk and Navarro reached on a single to left field, putting the tying run on base. Asuaje loaded the bases after a hit by pitch, setting up Penate for the most dramatic plate appearance of the day.

Penate battled Saint Rose’s Ryan Harper to a full count then fouled off three straight pitches. Penate came out on top by tying the game with a double down the left field line that just barely got by the third basemen. Regoli put the Sharks on top with a sacrifice fly to left field that plated Asuaje. The Sharks would put two more insurance runs up when Penate and Durden scored on a passed ball and an error, respectively.

Sean Albury (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas) was called upon to pitch the seventh and final inning and claimed his third save of the season. Albury struck out the first two batters before ending the game on a popup to second base. Penate, Regoli, and Maggs each led the offense with two RBI each.

The Sharks will host another Northeast-10 squad this Tuesday, March 8 at the NSU Baseball Complex when they face Southern New Hampshire at 6 p.m.