GAME ONE BOX | GAME TWO BOX
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – With two one-run wins on Friday, the Nova Southeastern baseball team completed a series sweep of No. 19 Florida Tech and extended their streak of seasons with 30 or more wins to nine in the process.
The Sharks (30-19, 12-12 SSC) had come-from-behind wins in all three games of the series to close out the regular season, and on Friday, that included a walk-off in game one.
The opener saw the Sharks blitz out to a 9-2 lead, only to fall behind 11-9 in the top of the eighth. But after scoring once in their half of the eighth, hits by sophomores
Michael Melendez (Miramar, Fla.) and
Brandon Sedell (Davie, Fla.) in the ninth pushed NSU to a 12-11 victory.
In game two, the Sharks fell behind 1-0 before tying it in the fifth and plating four runs in their last at-bat, in the sixth. Freshman reliever
Colton Rogers (Coral Springs, Fla.) came in to save the game with one out in the seventh after three FIT runs had scored, stranding the tying run at first base for the 5-4 win.
GAME ONE
Prior to the ninth-inning heroics, the Sharks had leads of 2-1, 5-2 and 9-2. Their first two runs came in the second inning on a single to left by
Brett Clements (Sr., Riverview, Fla.).
Then, after the Panthers tied it with a run in the fourth, the Sharks scored the next seven runs of the contest. In their fourth, it was three runs, one on an RBI double by
Eric Acevedo (Sr., Miami), and the other two on a high flyball that carried over the leftfield fence off the bat of
Carlos Asuaje (Jr., Weston, Fla.).
A four-spot in the fifth extended the NSU lead. Clements got his third RBI of the game with a bases-loaded walk, and two more runs came in on a deep double by
Brooks Fleming (Jr., Palm City, Fla.). The ninth Shark run of the game came courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Acevedo, and the team looked to be in control at 9-2.
However, Florida Tech came back with one in the sixth, two in the seventh, and sixth in the eighth. In the latter frame, 10 Panther hitters came to the plate in the inning, and the last four runs came with two outs.
The Sharks cut it to one at 11-10 in their eighth, on a throwing error. Reliever
Roberto Baroniel (So., Miami) kept the score as is by leaving the bases loaded in the top half of the ninth, setting up the walkoff.
Asuaje led off the final inning with a deep triple to right-center field, and scored the tying run off a single up the box by Melendez. An out later, Sedell’s hard shot to right brought Melendez all the way around the bases as his Shark teammates celebrated the walkoff at home plate.
Baroniel (2-1) got the win, and FIT closer James Mannara (5-4) was pegged with the loss. Asuaje and Clements each had three hits as the Sharks totaled 17 in the win. Besides Clements’ three RBI, the trio of Asuaje, Fleming and Acevedo each had two.
GAME TWO
Unlike both Thursday’s series opener and the first game on Friday, the final game between these two teams was more of a pitcher’s battle, at least early on. Shark starter
Julian Loret de Mola (So., Miami) and FIT’s Scotty Ward each only gave up one run through five innings of work.
The Panthers’ run came in the first inning, as it did in every game of the series, on two hits to start the game and a sacrifice fly. But after that, Loret de Mola settled down, allowing just three more hits and no more runs. He was relieved to start the sixth by
Cody Stiles (Sr., Coral Springs, Fla.), who did not allow a run in his one inning of work.
Against Ward, NSU plated their first run in the fifth (also a sacrifice fly, by Acevedo), before breaking through with four in the sixth.
With one out, three straight singles by
Jose Rodriguez (Hialeah, Fla.), Sedell and
Kevin Reynolds (Sr., Fort Myers, Fla.) chased Ward. Reynolds’ shot through the left side plated Rodriguez to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead. Reliever Gerardo Dudamel was brought in, and after a passed ball moved both runners up, Dudamel issued an intentional walk to Clements to load the bases.
The next batter,
Alex Marrero (Sr., Miami) lined a shot for a triple down the rightfield line that scored all three of his teammates and made it a 5-1 lead in favor of NSU.
Though FIT would score three runs with just one out in the seventh, Rogers was able to induce two flyouts to get his first collegiate save, earning the first win of the year for Stiles (1-0). Ward (6-2) took the loss.
Reynolds was 3-for-3 in game two, scoring twice, while Marrero had two hits and the three RBI.
The Sharks reached the 30-win plateau with six wins in their final seven games of the season. The three wins against FIT gave the team their second in-conference sweep of the season, the other coming against Florida Southern on April 12 and 14. NSU finished with a home record in 2013 of 22-7.
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