Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 21 Nova Southeastern baseball team (24-13, 8-10 SSC) dropped a pair of games against the No. 5 Lynn Fighting Knights (32-8, 14-4 SSC), in Saturday's doubleheader at the NSU Baseball Complex. The Fighting Knights took the early game, 11-9, before winning the nightcap, 10-0, to take the series sweep.
Game one of Saturday's doubleheader mimicked Friday night's game between the two teams, as there was a lot of back-and-forth offensive production from both sides.
The game jumped out to a fast start for Lynn, scoring six of their 11 runs in the first inning.
Brooks Fleming (Sr., Palm City, Fla.) cut the lead to 6-2, with a two-run home run crushed over the fence in left in the bottom half of the first.
After the Knights put up a run in both the second and third, the Sharks cut into that 8-2 lead, scoring three runs in the fourth.
Michael Hernandez's (Fr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) lone hit of the series was a big one, doubling home two runs, scoring both
Kavan Thompson (So., Melbourne, Fla.) and
Alvin Swoope (Fr., Port St. Lucie, Fla.)
Geoff Jimenez (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) brought in Hernandez in the next at-bat, scoring him on a base knock to left, making the score 8-5.
Lynn put another run on the board in the fifth before the Sharks scored three of their own in the same frame, cutting the score to 9-8. The scoring began on Fleming's third RBI of the game, batting in
Alexander Fernandez (Jr., Davie, Fla.) on a base hit.
Andres Visbal (Fr., Miami) got it going offensively, singling then advancing to second on a fielding error by the right fielder, giving Fleming plenty of time to reach home safely. Swoope finished off the inning with a RBI single down the left field line scoring Visbal from second.
The visitor's bats would not slow up, putting up a two-spot in the sixth to make the score 11-8. NSU would make one last push at a comeback, but came up short. The Sharks were only able to put one more run on the board in the seventh. The run came on Thompson's second hit of the game, scoring Visbal from third.
The Sharks made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth, putting a runner on third with two outs. However, Andrew Melchor closed the door on NSU and picked up his sixth save of the season.
AJ Falleta (6-0) picked up the win for the Knights, while
Dillon Frye (Jr., Raleigh, Fla.) (2-4) was the losing pitcher in game one.
The final game of the series was controlled by Lynn's pitcher, Travis Connelly, who pitched a complete-game shutout for the Fighting Knights. Connelly allowed three hits, struck out five, while walking just one, in his seven innings on the mound.
Julian Loret de Mola (Jr., Miami) absorbed the loss for NSU, pitching 3.2 innings and allowing four earned on six hits.
The Knights opened the scoring by bringing in two runs in the third. They then put the game out of reach by scoring their final eight runs in fourth, seven of which coming on two outs.
Casey Kopec (So., Coral Springs, Fla.),
Drew Packard (Sr., Knoxville, Tenn.) and
Matt Hardy (Fr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) did not allow an earned run in the final 3.1 innings of play.
Jimenez, Visbal and
Teft Hill (Fr., Fort Myers, Fla.) each recorded a hit for the Sharks in the nightcap.
NSU will take a break from Sunshine State Conference play, when they take on Palm Beach Atlantic at home Tuesday, April 15 at the NSU Baseball Complex.
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