BOX SCORE
WINTER PARK, Fla. – Despite out hitting No. 18 Rollins (18-4, 1-0 SSC), the Nova Southeastern softball team (17-13, 2-2 SSC) was shutout, 3-0, Friday night in the opener of a three-game series against the Tars.
Rollins used the first three innings to create a 3-0 margin over the Sharks, posting a single run in the bottom half of each of those innings. The most definitive of those runs was the third, coming by way of a solo homerun down the left field line by Monica Meadows to lead off the third inning.
NSU threatened to cut into the lead in the top of the fourth inning, as
Gina Bondarenko (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and
Chelsea Emery (Jr., Eustis, Fla.) led off with singles. Unfortunately, the Tars would retire the next three Sharks and halt any momentum the Sharks were building.
Sara DeMuth (Sr., Plant City, Fla.) did her best to keep the deficit to three runs, keeping Rollins off the board in the next three innings. DeMuth, the SSC pitcher of the week, struck out two in the fourth and sixth to shut down the Rollins scoring after the first three innings.
Ashley Silveira (Jr., Miami. Fla.) tried to spark the NSU comeback in the top of the seventh with a lead-off single, but her teammates were unable to follow suit. Hope Bitzer, who struck out seven total batters as the pitcher for Rollins, sat down two and got a third to pop out to secure a conference win for the Tars.
Bondarenko and Silveira each finished the game with a pair of hits for NSU, while DeMuth collected eight strikeouts in the loss. The Sharks and Tars will pick up play Saturday at 1 p.m. with a doubleheader to wrap up the series.
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