GAME ONE BOX | GAME TWO BOX
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team (20-6, 5-3 SSC) clinched the series victory over the Barry Buccaneers (15-14, 4-4 SSC) by splitting Saturday’s doubleheader in Miami Shores, Fla. The Sharks clinched the series with a 4-1 victory, and after a rain delay, lost the second game, 9-3.
GAME ONE
The Sharks sealed the weekend-series victory by taking out the Bucs in game one, 4-1, by posting a single run in four innings.
Cody Stiles (Jr., Coral Springs, Fla.) (3-1) earned the first Sunshine State Conference victory of his career by pitching six solid innings. The Buccaneer offense gave him everything he could handle, but he held them to one run and left seven runners stranded. He needed 97 pitches to get through six innings, but fanned eight batters in the process. In his six appearances this season, he’s struck out at least eight batters in half of them.
The Sharks scored half of their runs off solo shots, with one coming from
Chris Morales (Jr., Miami, Fla.) in the first inning. With one out on the board, Morales homered to left field on a 2-1 count. It was the first home run of his NSU tenure. The Sharks would score again in the third, thanks to a leadoff double from
Brett Clements (Jr., Riverview, Fla.).
Blake Boyd (Jr., Jupiter, Fla.) bunted Clements to third base before he was plated on a RBI single from Carlos Asuaje (So., Weston, Fla.).
The Sharks scored again in the fourth inning, as
Areo Regoli (Sr., Homestead, Fla.) hit his 14th home run of the season. Facing a 2-1 count as the leadoff hitter, Regoli sent the ball over the tall fence in centerfield to put the Sharks ahead by three runs. Regoli, who entered the week No. 1 in home runs per game (.55), moves one home run ahead of Jacob Rogers of Mount Olive for the national lead.
After Barry posted their only run in the fifth inning, the Sharks posted their final run in the in the eighth. Asuaje drew a two-out walk and scored from first base on an error. In the end, both teams recorded five hits, but Barry left a total of nine runners on base.
Mike Gonzalez (Jr., Miami, Fla.) continued his strong season, picking up his first save of the season. He pitched three shutout innings and only allowed two hits and one walk.
GAME TWO
The Sharks allowed four runs in the first inning and could not climb back into the game, dropping the final game of the series to Barry, 9-3.
After falling into a four-run hole early, the Sharks led off three straight innings, from the second to the fourth, with home runs.
Daniel Petitbon (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led off the streak with a home run that just stayed fair down the left field line. In the third inning, Boyd knocked one out of the park past left field on a 1-0 count. It was his first home run of the season and the second of his career.
Petitbon would hit his second home run of the game in the fourth inning. On a full count, Petitbon blasted it over the scoreboard in left field for his sixth home run of the season, ranking second on the team.
The home runs were not enough to bring the Sharks back in the game as each of them failed to spark a rally. During their home run stretch, the Sharks only totaled two other hits, both singles, and never had a runner past second base.
The Bucs blew open their lead with two runs in the third inning and three more in the sixth. The NSU offense deflated after Petitbon’s second home run. After the fourth inning, the Sharks only recorded one hit, a single through the left side from Morales.
The Sharks will return home to begin a series against the Saint Leo Lions this Thursday at 6 p.m. at the NSU Baseball Complex.
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