Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team (27-17, 8-14 SSC) drops the first game of their three-game series against the Rollins College Tars (17-26, 3-19 SSC), in a 4-3 contest Friday night at the NSU Baseball Complex.
The Sharks cut their 4-2 deficit to one in the bottom of the eighth, after
Andres Visbal (Fr., Miami) crushed a solo home run over the fence out in left. The home run was Visbal's fourth of the season.
In the top of the ninth, the Tars put runners on the corners with no outs, looking to give themselves more of a cushion going into the bottom of the ninth. However, a miracle 1-4-3-5-1 triple play ended the inning and got
Ronald Patella (So., Davie, Fla.) out of a critical jam.
NSU was unable to carry over the momentum to the home half of the ninth, as the closer, Spencer Mumford, forced the Sharks order into a 1-2-3 inning, en route to his first save of the year.
Roberto Baroniel (Jr., Miami) suffered just his second loss of the season in his final appearance of his 2014 campaign. Baroniel (5-2) pitched eight strong, allowing four runs, one earned, on six Tars hits.
Matt Hendricks earned the win for Rollins Friday night. Hendricks (5-4) went seven innings on the bump, allowing two earned, while striking out four, using 123 pitches.
The Tars bullpen closed out the final two innings of the game, allowing just one run on two NSU hits.
After two scoreless frames in the first and second innings, Rollins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the third, on a RBI groundout to second by the centerfielder Peter Nicoletto.
NSU's bats were able to follow suit by scoring two of their own in the home half of the third frame. The sophomore
Casey Gibson (Fort Myers, Fla.) got the inning started with a leadoff double to left, Gibson's second double of the year.
Geoff Jimenez (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Gibson to third, with one away.
Kavan Thompson (So., Melbourne, Fla.) brought in his 20th run of the season on a groundout to the second baseman. With the bases empty and two outs,
Mario Urdaneta (Jr., Ocala, Fla.) smashed his first home run of his NSU career, giving the Sharks their first lead of the game.
Rollins was able to battle back, using a three-run fifth to propel the visiting team to a 4-2 lead.
Despite the loss, NSU out hit Rollins 8-7, as eight different batters recorded a hit in the Sharks lineup. The Sharks stranded seven runners on base, to four stranded by the Tars.
NSU and Rollins will conclude the 2014 regular season, with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. at the NSU Baseball Complex. In between games the Sharks will celebrate their four seniors,
Drew Packard (Knoxville, Tenn.),
Brooks Fleming (Palm City, Fla.), Jimenez and
Mitchel Buerosse (Lighthouse Point, Fla.).
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