Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. –The Nova Southeastern University softball team (8-5) is on a four-game winning streak after sweeping Merrimack and Charleston in the first day of the Sailfish Showdown Friday.
Game One
NSU beat the Merrimack Warriors, 14-4, for the Sharks' first win in the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish Showdown. They totaled 11 hits, scoring four runs off of three stolen bases, as
Erika Garcia (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) set a new career high single game RBI mark at 5.
Merrimack avoided the shutout in the second inning, scoring off of a RBI single from the bat of Finnigan.
Garcia notched her first RBI of the game in the first.
Samira Tanaka (Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil) got the single to set up the run and advanced in the next play off the bat of
Lorena Spaulding, (Sr., Pembroke Pines) who singeld to left field. Garcia came up to bat and singled to left feild, bringing Tanaka home and Spaulding to third.
The Sharks would score six runs in the next two innings, most of those runs coming in from four wild pitches. Merrimack pitcher Bauer threw ten wild pitches in the entire game.
After pushing their lead to 10-3 in the sixth, the Sharks would have a very eventful seventh to close the game. After three walks and five wild pitches, the Sharks would be in prime position to score.
With Tanaka on first,
Dakota Villella (Fr., Hollywood, Fla.) on second and
Melanie Spicola (Jr., Umatilla, Fla.) on third, the Sharks would score twice on consecutive wild pitches, advancing Tanaka to third base. Spaulding would follow up to bat and capitalize on a Merrimack throwing error, advancing to first. Tanaka would come home on the play.
Gina Bondarenko(Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) would get her final RBI and run of the game, doubling to right field and giving NSU its final score of the game at 14.
The Warriors would rally and score one more at the bottom of the seventh before ending the game in a double-digit loss.
Game Two
The Sharks shutout Merrimack, 8-0, in their second game of the Sailfish Showdown that ended in the fifth inning on a mercy rule call. This was the second game that ended in the mercy rule for the Sharks this season, with the other coming in Monday's game against Kentucky State.
The scoring started in the first inning for NSU, as Viellella earned the lead-off a walk. With back-to-back singles by Tanaka and Spaulding, Villella would advance to third. Bondarenko came up to bat next for the Sharks and hit a RBI single to give the Sharks an early 1-0 lead.
Just like the first game of the day, the Sharks capitalized on thowing errors and pushed thier score to 3-0 in the third. Spicola would score on a catching error by Charleston's first baseman, giving time for Spaulding to advance to third. Bondarenko would come up to bat next and get a RBI single, bringing Spaulding home and putting the Sharks up 3-0.
The Sharks' final scoring frame of the game came in the bottom of the fourth as
Krista Colburn (Jr., Meade, Colo.),
Maegan Lee (Jr., Miami, Fl.),
Courtney Bridge (Jr., Port Coquitlam, Cana.), Villella and Spicola would each get a hit and run in the fifth.
The wins pushed the Sharks into a four-game winning streak, improving their record to 8-5.
NSU will return to the field at 1 p.m. Saturday to face Goldey Beacom and face Flagler at 5 p.m. for the fourth time this season.
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.
