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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern softball team (29-19) will host St. Thomas (9-18) for a midweek doubleheader Wednesday at the AD Griffin Sports Complex. The two-game set against the Bobcats beginning at 6 p.m., will kick off an eight-game homestand to conclude the Sharks’ 2012 regular season.
The Sharks have hit their stride at the right time of the season, winning nine of their last 10 contests. Most recently, NSU swept Lynn April 14-15 to improve its Sunshine State Conference record to 11-7 and move up to fourth in the conference standing. The Sharks posted a pair of shutouts over the Fighting Knights, while allowing only one run in the second game of the series.
Pitcher
Sara DeMuth (Sr., Plant City, Fla.) picked up all three victories over the weekend to improve to 22-15 on the season. DeMuth became just the seventh player in program history to record at least 20 wins in a single season and is currently in a four-way tie for second in the record books. The NSU record for wins in a season stands at 25, set by Lexi Sarradet in 2009. DeMuth also sits just 14 strikeouts shy of becoming the first NSU pitcher to record 300 strikeouts in a season. Her 286 sit downs ranks her second in the nation, while her 8.6 strikeouts per seven innings is 19th-best nationally.
The Sharks have had good success in the batter’s box this season as well. Junior power hitter
Laura Saladrigas (Hollywood, Fla.) has smashed 12 homeruns this season to move into a three-way tie for the most in a single season in program history with Lauren Lopez (2010) and Katie Veltri (2007).
NSU has also played the small-ball game well this season, as
Katie Kelton (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.), who leads NSU with a .376 batting average, ranks 12th in the nation in sacrifice hits per game (0.31). Kelton has recorded three sacrifice flys, to go with 15 sacrifice bunts and 11 bunt singles. Freshman
Lorena Spaulding (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) is second on the team with a .374 average and leads the Sharks with 15 bunt singles.
The Bobcats enter Wednesday’s matchup with a 9-18 overall mark and 6-6 in The Sun Conference play of the NAIA. St. Thomas secured two shutout victories in a three-game series against Northwood over the week.
Carissa Albizu has paced the Bobcats with a .292 batting average this season. Sasha Horton and Linett Perez are the only other St. Thomas student-athletes hitting at least .250, at .264 and .250, respectively.
Brenda Emerson has garnered credit for all nine wins for St. Thomas this season, while suffering only seven losses in 100.2 innings of work. She holds a 2.29 ERA.
The Sharks have beaten the Bobcats twice already this season, sweeping a doubleheader Feb. 21. NSU took the first game 4-2, before shutting out St. Thomas, 9-0, in game two.
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