BOX SCORE

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team (22-10, 9-3 SSC) took the weekend series against the Eckerd Tritons as they defeated the Eckerd Tritons (12-15, 1-8 SSC) in St. Petersburg, Fla. Sunday, 10-5.

Daniel Petitbon (Jr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had a big day as he went 3-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. Petitbon improved his season numbers to 12 RBI and 17 runs along with a .358 batting average. Juniors Mauricio Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) and Areo Regoli (Homestead, Fla.) also had solid performances. Rodriguez went 3-for-5 with two runs while Regoli went 2-for-5 with three runs. Andrew Durden (Sr., Port St. Lucie, Fla.) went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer which brought his season totals to a team-best 39 runs and 26 RBI.

Earning his first win since Feb. 5, Chris Roman (Sr., Kissimmee, Fla.) (2-0) shutdown the Tritons as he pitched six shutout innings. Roman struck four batters out while holding Eckerd to four hits and two walks. Ralph Pena (So., Miami, Fla.) pitched well out of the bullpen as he kept the Tritons scoreless in the seventh frame.

The Sharks had their biggest inning of the weekend in the third as they scored four runs, more than they had in the two previous games against Eckerd this weekend. The side began as Carlos Asuaje (Fr., Weston, Fla.) scored without the help of a hit. He drew a leadoff walk and stole second. After advancing to third on a groundout, Asuaje took advantage of a wild pitch to score his team’s first run.

After Asuaje scored, Regoli reached and advanced into scoring position on an error. Petitbon plated him on a single through the right side for his first RBI. Petitbon would trot home from first as Durden hit a bomb over the left field fence. It was Durden’s team-high ninth home run of the season and put the Sharks up, 4-0. NSU went scoreless in the fourth despite loading up the bases with one out on the board.

With two outs in the fifth, the Sharks took advantage of two costly errors as Dusty Maggs (Sr., Satellite Beach, Fla.) reached base on an error by the second baseman and later scored off an error by at third base. The Sharks picked up two more runs in the 6th inning. Rodriguez hit a one-out single before Regoli drew a walk. Petitbon picked up another RBI as he singled down the left field line which scored Rodriguez. After Regoli advanced to third, Maggs picked up his only RBI on a sacrifice fly to left field, putting the Sharks up, 7-0.

The Sharks piled on two more runs in the seventh as Asuaje and Rodriguez each picked up singles to put a runner in scoring position. Regoli followed up with a single into left field but Asuaje was thrown out at the plate from left field. Petitbon would keep the momentum on NSU’s side as he hit a single through the left side, scoring both base runners. The Sharks would go up, 10-0, in the eighth when they scored their final run. With the bases loaded, Sharad Johnson (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas) knocked in his first hit of the year on a RBI single up the middle.

The Tritons would score five runs over the final two innings to make the score more respectable. Kellen St. Luce (Jr., St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands) made his NSU debut with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and struck out the final batter, stranding a runner on third base.

After this seven-game road trip, the Sharks will return home to begin a pinnacle weekend series against Barry this Friday, April 8 at 6 p.m.