BOX SCORE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University baseball team (9-7) gave a valiant comeback effort but was unable to overcome the undefeated Southern New Hampshire Penman (8-0) as the Sharks fell 14-12 Tuesday night at the NSU Baseball Complex.
The Sharks trailed by 10 runs going into their half of the seventh inning. They came all the way back to being down just two with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but fell just short.
Down 14-10 to begin the final frame, four straight walks rounded
Kavan Thompson (Fr., Melbourne, Fla.) With one out,
Jose Rodriguez (Sr., Hialeah, Fla.) hit a long fly ball to right field to bring home
Carlos Asuaje (So., Weston, Fla.)and cut the deficit to two. With two runners left on the basepaths, the Sharks still had a chance to walkoff with a win, but were unable to register another hit and fell to the Penmen, 14-12.
NSU had a season-high 13 walks in the game, and matched Southern New Hampshire with 10 hits apiece.
With senior
Mike Gonzalez (1-1) earning his second start, the Sharks were unable to hold off the Penman at the start, as Southern New Hampshire scored four runs on two hits and three errors off the righty from Miami.
After scoring three additional runs the following frame and falling behind 7-0, senior
Cody Stiles (Coral Springs, Fla.) came on in relief and closed out the second with no additional damage done.
The Sharks finally put their first run on the board in the bottom half of the inning.
Julian Loret de Mola (So., Miami) was the first NSU baserunner as he earned his seventh walk of the season. After the Penman’s starter, Alex Powers (2-0), allowed his second walk to
Brett Clements (Sr., Riverview, Fla.),
Brandon Sedell (So., Davie, Fla.) drilled a double off the wall for NSU’s first hit, but Loret de Mola was thrown out at home.
Angel Navarro (So., Miami Lakes, Fla.) followed suit with a hit himself, a single up the middle, scoring Clements from third to make it 7-1.
Southern New Hampshire continued to put multiple runs on the scoreboard, putting up six between the fourth and sixth innings, with the four in the latter inning coming on a grand slam. In between, NSU had its first multi-run showing, as in the fifth, they strung together three runs on only two hits.
After
Alex Marrero (Sr., Miami, Fla.) walked, Loret de Mola singled to put two runners on with one out. Senior
Anthony Angulo (Homestead, Fla.) used his patience at the plate to walk to load the bases for Clements., who delivered with a two-run double to center field. The Penman changed pitchers mid-inning, but Sedell sent a deep sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Angulo to touch home for the Sharks' fourth run of the game.
After the SNHU four-run sixth, the Sharks went down by 10. Head coach Greg Brown’s squad started the comeback by mustering two runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to 14-6.
With speedy
William Rudolph (Jr., Parkland, Fla.) reaching on an error, Angulo doubled to left center, easily scoring Rudolph from first. Clements was robbed of a multi-base hit as Southern New Hampshire’s first baseman Riley Palmer made a diving stop, which negated Clements' second hit of the game. With two outs, Sedell drove in his second run of the game with a shot down the left field line.
Asuaje started NSU’s four-run eighth with one of the Sharks' 13 walks of the game, and ended up putting himself 90 feet away with his third stolen base of the game. Pinch hitter
Julien Plana (Fr., Miami, Fla.) grounded a ball to the right side, allowing Asuaje to score. Pinch hitters
Michael Melendez (So., Miramar, Fla.) and
Kevin Reynolds (Jr., Ft. Meyers, Fla.) both reached, by a walk and hit-by-pitch, respectively. Penmans' shortstop Greg Pezzuto misjudged the speed of Reynolds on first, allowing Angulo to reach on the fielder's choice to load the bases with only one out.
Ryan Woodrey (So., Lighthouse Point, Fla.) came through with an RBI single, plating Melendez to cut the lead to 14-8.
The eighth-inning rally continued with Reynolds scoring on a wild pitch, and Sedell, who was NSU’s RBI leader of the night with three, sending a deep ball to left to score Angulo. That run allowed the Sharks to score double digits for the second time this season.
Casey Kopec (Fr., Coral Springs, Fla.) came in to pitch the ninth, keeping the Penman off the board and setting up the Sharks' ninth-inning threat.
The Sharks used seven pitchers in the loss, spreading the innings between Gonzalez, Stiles,
Josh Glick (Fr., Boca Raton, Fla.),
Tyler Redding (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.),
Drew Packard (Jr., Knoxville, Tenn.),
Alexander Kline (Fr., Coral Springs, Fla.) and Kopec. The latter four combined to only allow a lone Penman run over the final four innings of the night.
The Penman offense was led by Jon Minucci, who was 4-for-4 with eight RBI.
The Sharks will be back in action Wednesday night against Wilmington, which is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
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