BOX SCORE 

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team erased two separate five-run deficits to go on and defeat the No. 13 Florida Southern Mocs, 15-11, Thursday night at the NSU Baseball Complex. The Sharks sealed their seventh straight 30-win season and eighth in the last nine years.

The seniors came up big on Senior Night as Haven Fitzsimmonds (Loxahatchee, Fla.) and Andrew Durden (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) each went 3-for-4 at the plate. Fitzsimmonds tallied five RBI and two runs while Durden scored three runs and drove in one. Daniel Petitbon (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) went 3-for-5 with three runs while Carlos Asuaje (Fr., Weston, Fla.) went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI.

Sean Albury (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas) (5-1) picked up his career-high fifth win of the season by holding the Mocs to one hit and no runs over the final 1.2 innings pitched. He also picked up two strikeouts. Chris Roman (Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.) had a shaky start in which he gave up a three-run homer, but moved on to hold the Mocs to two hits over 4.1 innings pitched with six strikeouts.

The Sharks fell behind in the contest early as the Mocs scored twice in the second inning and three times in the third. The Sharks took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the third as they scored six runs. Asuaje, Petitbon, and Areo Regoli (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) each picked up RBI hits before Fitzsimmonds hit a three-run homer to right field. The home run was his fourth of the season. Fitzsimmonds is now hitting .327 on the season with 29 RBI.

The Mocs held serve by scoring six runs of their own in the fourth frame. NSU stymied the Mocs’ offense after that as FSC only had two hits over the final five innings. The Sharks would erase the deficit again with three runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth. Luis Penate (Sr., Miami, Fla.) had his only hit of the game in the fourth with a RBI single up the middle. Fitzsimmonds drove in two runs in the side as his single to centerfield plated Durden and Penate. In the sixth, Regoli picked up an RBI before Maggs hit an RBI single to centerfield.

After a scoreless seventh, the Sharks closed out the game with a four-run eighth inning. Petitbon and Durden kicked off the frame with back-to-back doubles, driving in the go-ahead run. The Sharks would pile on runs as Durden scored on a wild pitch, Anthony Angulo (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) drove in a run with a double off the third base bag and Asuaje hit an RBI single to right centerfield. Albury retired three out of four batters in the ninth to close out the game.

Despite the close score down the stretch, the Sharks outhit the Mocs, 18-8. However, the Mocs drew 10 walks in the game. The Sharks have now scored in double figures in eight of the last ten games. The Sharks are now 6-3 against top-15 nationally ranked opponents.

The Sharks will conclude their series against the Mocs Friday, April 29 at the NSU Baseball Complex with a doubleheader beginning at noon.