GAME ONE BOX | GAME TWO BOX
WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team nearly came back from a seven-run deficit in game one before taking game two and the series against Rollins, with scores on Saturday of 9-8 and 8-1, respectively.
Michael Melendez (So., Miramar, Fla.) continued his hot hitting with two home runs during the game one comeback, while
Brett Clements (Sr., Riverview, Fla.) was the hitting star of game two, as he had six RBI, backing the solid first NSU start for pitcher
Julian Loret de Mola (So., Miami).
With the Saturday split, following Friday’s 15-5 victory, the Sharks (27-19, 9-12 SSC) leapfrogged the Tars (23-21-1, 8-12-1 SSC) in the conference standings heading into the season’s final week.
GAME ONE
The Sharks were ahead early, 1-0 and 2-1, before Rollins scored eight runs unanswered and weathered the late NSU comeback in the 9-8 home win.
With three runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings, it looked as if the Tars might win going away, but NSU put up a five-spot in the seventh.
Kevin Reynolds (Jr., Fort Myers, Fla.) led off the frame with a double, and advanced to third on a single by Clements. The first run, Reynolds, came in on a sacrifice fly off the bat of
Eric Acevedo (Sr., Miami), and the next three came courtesy of a Melendez three-run shot after
Carlos Asuaje (Jr., Weston, Fla.) was hit by a pitch.
Melendez added another home run to lead off the ninth inning and bring the Sharks within a run at 9-8, but reliever Eric Morse set down the next three Sharks in order to pick up the save.
Starter
Mitchell Buerosse (Jr., Lighthouse Point, Fla.) fell to 5-5 on the season with the loss, giving up six runs (though only four were earned) in five innings of work.
The Sharks had taken their early leads on two runs batted in by
Jose Rodriguez (Sr., Hileah, Fla.). In the first, Asuaje led off the game with a double that was just feet away from a home run off the rightfield fence, and moved to third on a single by Melendez up the middle. Rodriguez pushed Asuaje across with a groundout. Then, in the third, Rodriguez connected on a no-doubter over the fence in left-center field for his fifth home run of the season.
Melendez went 3-for-4, and had four, while Rodriguez added two, of the Sharks’ eight RBI. They each scored twice, as did Asuaje.
GAME TWO
Though Rollins plated a run off Loret de Mola for a 1-0 lead in the third, it was all they’d get off the righthander. He gathered his first NSU win against no losses, tossing only 60 pitches in his six innings of work, allowing five hits and striking out two.
Clements pushed across three of the four runs the Sharks scored in two separate innings, accounting for six of the team's eight runs.
In the fourth, after Rodriguez led off with another towering shot to leftfield to tie the game at 1-1 (home run No. 6),
Alex Marrero (Sr., Miami) singled an out later. Reynolds followed with a single of his own, and the two of them came home on an absolute blast to rightfield up and over the fence by Clements, his first of the year.
Then, in the top of the seventh, Melendez started things off with a bunt single and advanced to second as Rodriguez was hit by a pitch.
Angel Navarro (So., Miami Lakes, Fla.) pinch-ran for Rodriguez, and he and Melendez moved up as
Brandon Sedell (So., Davie, Fla.) walked to load the bases. Marrero knocked in Melendez with a single to leftfield, and then it was Clements’ turn again.
This time, the Sharks’ catcher lined a double that snuck just inside the rightfield foul line, scoring all three of his teammates for a seven-run lead.
Mike Gonzalez (Sr., Miami) came on to pitch the seventh and retired Rollins 1-2-3 to close out the game.
Besides Clements’ six, Rodriguez and Marrero had the other two Shark RBI of game two. Marrero also scored twice, while he, Rodriguez, Sedell and Clements each had two hits. The Sharks totalled 39 hits and scored 31 runs in the three-game series.
In the series, Sedell and Melendez each had six hits and five RBI, while Clements went 5-for-13 with 10 runs batted in.
NSU will close out the 2013 regular season at home next week against Florida Tech. Senior Night is Thursday, May 9 (6:00 first pitch with a 5:40 start to the senior ceremonies), and the following day is a noon doubleheader at the NSU Baseball Complex.
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.
