Box Score WINTER PARK, Fla. - The Nova Southeastern softball team (30-18, 16-7 SSC) fell to Rollins (35-11, 17-5 SSC), 1-0, in dramatic fashion to open the two teams' crucial series on Friday night.
The back-and-forth Sunshine State Conference battle began from the get-go in the top of the first inning. Leading off the game,
Melanie Spicola (Jr., Umatilla, Fla.) reached base on a Tars' outfield catching error. A sacrifice bunt by Samira Tanaka (Sr., Sao Paulo, Brazil), put Spicola in scoring position, but the Tars defense retired the next two to strand Spicola on second.
The Sharks almost broke through in the top of the third.
Maegan Lee (Jr., Miami, Fla.), who went 3-for-3 in the game, connected on a hit to left field for a leadoff single.
Lorena Spaulding (Jr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) successfully sacrificed Lee into scoring position. Up next and with one out on the board, Spicola grounded out to third base for the second out, with Lee advancing to third, but another groundout stranded her there.
The Tars also threatened to score the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, the Tars' Courtney Durbin doubled to left field to get in scoring position. The Sharks' defense was able to prevent the run as
Jennie Von Doellen (Hudson Bay, Canada) threw her first strikeout against Kristie Hoeffer, who leads Rollins in batting average. Then Spicola caught the third out in right field to avoid the Rollins threat.
The Sharks bounced back and were close to scoring again in the top of the sixth, A single by Spicola and another sac bunt by Tanaka put the Sharks' leadoff hitter at second. Two batters later,
Katrina Ammons (Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.) reached base on a walk to put two on, but a popout catch by the Tars would strand both runners on base to keep the game scoreless.
A walk and a double would finally put Rollins in the lead in their half of the sixth. Jule Kranz walked to first and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Hailee Keisling. Kranz would then come around on an RBI double by Hoeffer for the Tars to take the 1-0 lead.
The Sharks put a scare into the home team one more time, in their final turn in the seventh. Lee hammered a double to left center to get in scoring position with two outs. But
Taylor Rotz (Fr., Pittsburgh, Penn.), pinch-hitting for Spaulding, grounded to third and was thrown out at first to end the game.
Von Doellen went the distance for the Sharks, allowing only three hits, two walks and the lone run while strikng out two.
The Sharks and Tars return to the field Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., wrapping up the regular season for both squads.
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.
