Box Score MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - In its first midweek game of the year, Nova Southeastern University's baseball team (9-1) fell to the St. Thomas University Bobcats (5-3) on Tuesday night, losing by a score of 14-6.
Unable to cash in on solid offensive performances from
Mario Urdaneta (Sr., Ocala, Fla.),
Justin Garcia (Jr., Hialeah, Fla.) and
Kavan Thompson (Jr., Melbourne, Fla.), the Sharks couldn't keep the Bobcat offense in check, surrendering 18 hits, including three home runs.
Steven Fleming (Jr., Palm City, Fla.) picked up the loss, his first decision of the season.
The Sharks got on the board first, thanks to a towering home run to dead centerfield off of the bat of Urdaneta. In the bottom of the third inning, the Bobcats answered back, scoring three runs on four hits.
Cameron Churchill (Fr., Palm Harbor, Fla.) surrendered two quick singles, giving the Bobcats runners on first and second base with no outs. It looked as if Churchill was going to work himself out of the jam, getting himself a strikeout and a pop out, but the Bobcats sent a double to left centerfield, scoring two runs. The Bobcats would add one more run in the inning, moving the score to 3-1.
Not phased by the deficit, the Sharks scored one run in the top of the fourth inning.
Andres Visbal (So., Miami, Fla.) reached base on an error by the STU shortstop, later scoring on a single from the hot-hitting
Yandy Viera (Sr., Hialeah, Fla.). NSU continued to chip away at the Bobcats' lead, scoring two runs in the top of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. The inning began with a leadoff walk from
Alexander Fernandez (Sr., Davie, Fla.), who later scored on a standup triple down the right field line from Garcia, tying the game at 3-3. Visbal singled to centerfield, driving in Garcia to give the Sharks their second lead of the game.
The Bobcats returned to favor in the bottom of the sixth inning and never looked back, hitting a three-run home run and a solo home run to take a 7-4 lead. They weren't done there, adding four more runs on four more hits, pushing the score to 11-4. Registering two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to move the score to 13-4, the lead was nearly out of reach, but it didn't stop the Sharks, who tacked on two more runs in the top of the eighth. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as the Bobcats added one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning and NSU fell for the first team this spring season.
The Sharks will be back in action on Monday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m., when they travel to Palm Beach Atlantic to take on the Sailfish at their brand new Rinker Athletic Complex Baseball Field.
