BOX SCORE

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The No. 24 Nova Southeastern baseball team (32-15, 16-6 SSC) dropped the first game of its final regular season weekend series against the Lynn Fighting Knights (25-22, 9-13 SSC), 10-2.

Carlos Asuaje (Fr., Weston, Fla.) and Nikko Echevarria (Jr., Abqaib, Saudi Arabia) played well in the loss as they each went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Asuaje scored one of the Sharks’ runs in the eighth. Luis Penate (Sr., Miami, Fla.), who went 1-for-3, scored his team’s other run. Areo Regoli (Jr., Homestead, Fla.) and Andrew Durden (Sr., Port St. Lucie, Fla.) were the only other Sharks to pick up a hit.

Isaac Hicks (Sr., Fort Myers, Fla.) (5-3) picked up the loss after allowing seven runs over four innings. However, Ralph Pena (So., Miami, Fla.) and Mauricio Rodriguez (Jr., Miami, Fla.) each pitched scoreless innings. Pena did not give up a hit in the seventh while Rodriguez struck out three batters in the eighth.

The Sharks walked into a storm Friday night as Lynn ace Andrew Virgili kept NSU at bay. Over 7.2 innings pitched, Virgili held NSU to six hits and no earned runs while striking out seven batters. The Sharks were scoreless over the first seven innings while Lynn accumulated a double-digit lead.

Lynn established its lead early with a run in the first inning and four more in the second. Hicks found a rhythm in the third and fourth innings as he only allowed one hit, a single that Lynn’s Anthony Boza failed to turn into a double as Regoli picked up an outfield assist. Lynn would double their five-run lead with four runs in the fifth before the Fighting Knights capped off the day with a run in the seventh.

The Sharks attempted to rally in the eighth inning as they scored their only two runs. With one out, Penate reached on a fielding error as the ball went through the legs of third baseman Eric Herrera. Penate moved into scoring position on a groundout by Blake Boyd (So., Jupiter, Fla.) and Asuaje recorded his RBI with a double to right centerfield. Echevarria drove home the final run of the game on a blooper to right field.

The Sharks will look to avenge their loss as they play a doubleheader against Lynn in Boca Raton, Fla. on Saturday, May 7 at noon.

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