BOX SCORE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 12 Nova Southeastern baseball team (30-8, 10-5 SSC) won the first game of a weekend series over the No. 7 Lynn Fighting Knights (30-12, 12-5 SSC), 7-6, Friday at the NSU Baseball Complex, sealing the Sharks’ eighth-straight 30 win season. The Sharks won on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth, a pitch that was intended to be the first of an intentional walk.
With the score tied in the bottom of the ninth inning,
Chris Morales (Jr., Miami, Fla.) earned a leadoff walk and was pinch run by freshman
Angel Navarro (Miami Lakes, Fla.). After the Sharks batted into a fielder’s choice, Navarro was close to being out at second base, but an errant throw allowed him to advance to third base. With runners on the corners, the Knights called for the intentional walk of
Daniel Petitbon (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), but the first pitch from Kentrail Pierce sailed well over the head of Petitbon and allowed Navarro to advance home. Pierce had not given up a hit in two innings of work going into the ninth inning.
Carlos Asuaje (So., Weston, Fla.) and
Brett Clements (Jr., Riverview, Fla.) each went 2-for-4 in the contest. Asuaje collected a run and a RBI while Clements hit two doubles, one of which drove in two runs.
The game was expected to be a pitcher’s dual between two Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Year candidates,
Zachary Westcott (So., Weston, Fla.) and Lynn’s Shawn Kale. Both pitchers gave up six runs in six innings, with all of Kale’s runs earned and none of Westcott’s earned. Kale gave up five runs in the first inning while Westcott gave up five in the second, all of which came after an error with two outs. Each pitcher gave up a run in the sixth before being pulled.
Mike Gonzalez (Jr., Miami, Fla.) (4-1) earned the victory with three perfect innings. The junior struck out three batters in the contest and lowered his ERA to 2.32.
The game had the look of a home-team route in the first inning, with the Sharks scoring five runs. Asuaje, Morales and
Areo Regoli (Sr., Homestead, Fla.) each reached base to start off the game, with Regoli recording a RBI double down the left field line. After Kale recorded his first strike out,
Javi Sujo (Sr., Miami, Fla.),
Alex Marrero (Jr., Miami, Fla.) and Clements earned three straight hits and combined for four RBI.
The Knights erased the Sharks' five-run lead in the second inning on a two-out rally. All five of Lynn's runs were unearned, as a dropped fly ball should have ended the inning before any runs were scored. After Lynn tied the game, both aces found their groove and kept the game scoreless until the sixth inning.
The Knights took a lead in the top of the sixth inning on another run that came after an error with two outs on the board. The Sharks tied the game at 6-6 with their own two-out rally, started by a double to left centerfield from
Blake Boyd (Jr., Jupiter, Fla.). Asuaje earned his only RBI on a single up the middle.
Both coaches sent in one of their top relievers to pitch the final three innings, with Gonzalez and Pierce throwing scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth. Gonzalez finished his night in the ninth, posting a hitless frame against the top of Lynn's lineup. The performance set up the Sharks' walk-off in the bottom of the frame.
The win sealed the Sharks' eighth-straight 30-win season. The streak has lasted since 2005, the year NSU baseball began competing in the SSC. The streak encompasses two head coaches, with the first six coming under current director of athletics
Michael Mominey.
Greg Brown continued the streak last year, and needs his team to win seven of its next 11 to tie the highest win mark during the stretch. Assistant coach Ryan Romero has been the only constant face during every season. Romero, who joined the staff before the 2001 season, has helped guide the Sharks to over half of its 17 total 30-win seasons.
The Sharks will finish up the series Saturday with a doubleheader against Lynn at 1 p.m. at the NSU Baseball Complex.
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