FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 6 Nova Southeastern University baseball team (12-1) will travel to Melbourne, Fla. to take on the No. 5 nationally- ranked Florida Tech Panthers (12-2) for a three-game series beginning Friday, Feb. 28th and concluding Saturday, March 1st. The teams will meet for a single game on Friday, with the first pitch slated for 6 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at noon.
This is the first Sunshine State Conference opponent for the Sharks this season.
"I am looking forward to beginning SSC play," said head baseball coach
Greg Brown. "Our conference weekends are always competitive and our team is prepared for the challenge."
The Sharks go into conference play, winning six straight, including a South Carolina sweep last weekend.
The Sharks beat the Anderson Trojans, 9-2, behind
Roberto Baroniel's (Jr., Miami) strong performance on the mound. Baroniel pitched seven strong, not allowing a run and striking out five.
Yandy Viera (Jr., Hialeah, Fla.) went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate, with three RBI in the win. Two days later, the Sharks topped the Benedict Tigers, 10-4, to complete the perfect weekend.
NSU will have their hands full this weekend in their conference opener, as the Panthers enter Friday with a perfect 8-0 home record and winning eight of their last nine games. Their lone loss during the stretch came in their most recent game at No. 18 Barry, losing 14-13 in 10 innings, on Wednesday. FIT's only other loss came earlier in the year against Limestone College, falling 6-5 in extras.
Austin Allen has led the way offensively for FIT, batting .415, to go along with four home runs and 16 RBI, all of which are team highs.
The Sharks could potentially face two Panthers starters in the rotation with sub-one ERAs this weekend. Ashton Fronsoe (2-0) (2) has a team-low 0.45 ERA, striking out 17 batters in 20 innings of work. Scott Ford (3-0) has posted a 0.62 ERA to this point and has struck out 12 batters in 29 innings on the bump.
In the all-time series between NSU and FIT, the Panthers have gotten the better of the Sharks, going 22-15 overall. However, recently, the tides have begun to turn in the favor of NSU, as the Sharks took five of the last six, including a three-game sweep over the Panthers to conclude NSU's 2013 season.
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