FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University softball team (28-18, 6-12 SSC) will honor its five seniors as the Sharks finish its last home stand against the Lynn Fighting Knights (10-34, 5-13 SSC) at the AD Griffin Sports Complex on April 21-22.

 

The Sharks will honor head coach Lesa Bonee prior to the start of the single game on April 21 at 6 p.m. for her 300th win at Nova Southeastern. In between the doubleheader on Friday, the team will honor the five seniors, Lexi Sarradet (Miami, Fla.), Rachel Talenfeld (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Brittany Phillips (Seminole, Fla.), Devin Higginbotham (Palatka, Fla.) and Sarah Hart (Newburgh, Ind.). The first game is scheduled for 5 p.m.

 

With a sweep and other contributing factors in Sunshine State Conference play, the Sharks have the ability to jump two spots in the conference standings.

 

NSU is coming off two wins against St. Thomas, 5-0 and 7-5, to extend its win streak to five games.

 

Sophomore Laura Saladrigas (Hollywood, Fla.) finished the doubleheader 3-for-6 with three doubles and two RBI. Saladrigas (43) is looking to pass Rollins Christine Roser (48) as the RBI leader in the conference.

 

Sarradet has been hot of late in the circle as she has won her last three games and even dropped her earned run average 1.88 points to 2.12 from the beginning of the year.

 

Talenfeld stole three bases against the Bobcats to put her over the 100-stolen base mark in her career.

 

As a team, the Sharks have hit .282 with Saladrigas on top with a .397 batting average. NSU has posted a .388 on-base percentage due to its high number of walks (152) and hit by pitches (37). Junior Sara DeMuth (Plant City, Fla.) and freshman Dani Millan (Ventura, Calif.) have already made it into the NSU record book in career HBP in their first season at 12 and 15, respectively.

 

The Fighting Knights have struggled to find their rhythm in the 2011 season. They sit eighth in the SSC standings with only 10 wins on the year, five in conference play.

 

They are batting a mere .263 and are second in the conference at 191 strikeouts. As a pitching staff, the Knights are posting a poor 7.22 ERA.

 

Brittany Gross (.366) and Carisa Cook (.300) are the lone Knights batting over .300 on the year. Mandi Brown is Lynn’s RBI leader at 23.

 

Callie Darlin (6-19) and Marianne Johnson (2-9) are the prime Lynn pitchers who have thrown the majority of innings but have a 4.43 and 12.64 ERA, respectively.

 

The series will begin the 51st meeting between the two teams as the Sharks have a 28-21-1 lead over the Fighting Knights. The Sharks took the previous meeting, 11-3 in six innings, in the Eckerd College Triton Spring Invitational on Feb. 27.

 

Freshman Holly Roberson (Dunnellon, Fla.), Phillips and Saladrigas all recorded a multi-hit performance for the Sharks.

Higginbotham earned her second win of the season while Sarradet earned her second save of the season.

 

Live audio (Click HERE) and live stats (Click HERE) will be available for the series. Also follow NSU Softball on Twitter through www.twitter.com/NSU_Softball.

 

For the game results, be sure to check www.NSUSharks.com or sign up to have results sent directly to your cell phone by signing up for SMS text messages by clicking here. For the weekly NSU Shark Athletic news, please sign up for the Shark Alert E-Newsletter by clicking here.