BOX SCORE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team survived St. Thomas Tuesday night, 9-8, stranding the tying run on third base in the top of the ninth inning.
The Sharks (21-13) had taken an early 4-0 lead, and led 8-2 after five innings, before St. Thomas (30-13) plated five in the sixth to cut the deficit to one run. After NSU scored once more in the bottom of the sixth, making it 9-7, each team was scoreless until the ninth.
The first three batters reached against Shark reliever
Julian Loret de Mola (So., Miami), with the first out coming on a sacrifice fly, making it a 9-8 game. With runners at second and third, and just the one out, Loret de Mola struck out pinch-hitter Stephen Fischer, and then induced Adam Duarte into a game-ending groundout to first base, tagging the bag himself on an underhanded throw from
Michael Melendez (So., Miramar, Fla.) to preserve the victory and earn his first collegiate save.
NSU got on the board quickly, scoring four runs in their first at-bat.
Carlos Asuaje (Jr., Weston, Fla.) poked his first of three singles on the night through the left side, and scored on Melendez’s double.
Jose Rodriguez (Sr., Hialeah, Fla.) drew a walk and stole second, and one out later,
Alex Marrero (Sr., Miami) reached on a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. The big hit of the inning came off the bat of
Brandon Sedell (So., Davie, Fla.), a scorcher to the wall in left-center, with all three of his teammates scoring on the long double.
St. Thomas got their first run off NSU starter
Alexander Kline (Fr., Coral Springs, Fla.) in the fourth, on a double with one out. But Kline minimized the damage by stranding runners at second and third to keep the game at 4-1. In his first collegiate start after six relief appearances, the freshman (1-0) gave up only four hits and one run, while striking out four Bobcats.
The Sharks got back on the scoreboard with two runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings, sandwiched around a lone Bobcat tally. The two in the fourth came via a solo home run by
Eric Acevedo (Sr, Miami) and a double by Rodriguez that scored Asuaje.
Though the Bobcats scored one in the fifth to make it 6-2, in the bottom half, a bases-loaded walk to Asuaje scored Sedell, and a batter later, an error allowed Melendez to reach, plating
Brett Clements (Sr., Riverview, Fla.) and pushing the Sharks back ahead by six runs.
After the five-run sixth for the Bobcats, the Sharks got their final score on a sacrifice fly by Clements, bringing
Kevin Reynolds (Jr., Fort Myers, Fla.) in from third. Relievers
Josh Glick (Fr., Boca Raton, Fla.) and
Casey Kopec (Fr., Coral Springs, Fla.) kept the Bobcats off the board in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, and Loret de Mola closed it out.
Asuaje reached base all five times he batted on Tuesday, with three singles and two walks, scoring twice and stealing two bases. Sedell had two hits and the three-run double in the first, and four other Sharks had base hits as well, while the team drew five walks and had four batters hit by pitches.
NSU will host Sunshine State Conference foe Florida Southern for a three-game series this weekend, with the first game set for 6 p.m. this Friday, April 12.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit
www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by
clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by
clicking here.
