Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University softball team (8-7, 0-2 SSC) opened Sunshine State Conference play with a pair of losses to the No. 18 Rollins Tars (11-0, 2-0 SSC) Saturday at the AD Griffin Sports Complex. The Sharks lost game one, 4-0, before dropping the second game, 5-3.
 
GAME ONE
The Sharks struggled offensively in their game-one loss, earning four hits in the shutout. Katrina Ammons (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) finished the game 2-for-2 with a walk and a double, while Lorena Spaulding (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Haley Gonzales (Fr., Boca Raton, Fla.) each recorded a hit.
 
The Sharks looked as if they would get on the board early, but stranded two runners on base in the first inning. From there, NSU went hitless against Niki Fogle until the fourth inning, when Ammons hit a one-out double to left centerfield. Nothing would come of it, after the Sharks stranded a runner in scoring position on two quick outs.
 
Scoreless going into the fifth inning, the Tars scored four runs over the next two frames on a combined five hits. The Sharks would attempt rallies in the sixth and seventh innings, but could not score. In the sixth, Te Reo Powhiri Matautia (Jr., Auckland, New Zealand) reached base on a fielding error before Ammons earned her second hit, a single through the right side. Maegan Lee (Sr., Miami, Fla.) bunted the two over, but a fly out kept the Sharks from breaking up the shutout.
 
In the seventh, pitcher Rebecca Thornton (So., Lodi, Calif.) hit a single through the left side to lead off the inning. Two straight fielder's choice plays dampened the rally before a grounder to third base ended the game.
 
Thornton, who's faced nationally ranked teams in her last five starts, dropped her record to 7-2. She pitched the complete game, striking out three batters with seven hits allowed.
 
GAME TWO
NSU took the lead early in game two but could not hold on in the middle innings. As in the first game, the Sharks had a pair of runners on base in the opening stanza. Matautia and Ammons reached on a single and a walk with two outs. On a 1-2 pitch, Taylor Rotz (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) earned her second hit of the season on a double to left centerfield, scoring both runners to take the lead.
 
Carly Comito (So., Boca Raton, Fla.) held Rollins scoreless from the circle in the first three innings to maintain NSU's lead. However, the sophomore gave up a pair of walks to begin the fourth inning, both of which would score and tie the game after Rotz entered in relief.
 
In the fifth, the Sharks gave up three more runs on five hits, allowing Rollins to record its strongest inning of the day. In a 5-2 hole, NSU rallied once again in the sixth, this time scoring a run. Ammons reached base on a leadoff walk and was pinch run by Courtney Bridge (Sr., Port Coquitlam, British Columbia). Rotz followed up with a walk, and the two runners advanced into scoring position on a passed ball.
 
With one out on the board, Lee hit a RBI single up the middle on a 2-2 count to score Bridge. With Rotz at third base, Thornton hit a slow roller to the shortstop, who was able to throw Rotz out at home plate on a bang-bang play. The Sharks would strand two runners on base on an ensuing strikeout.
 
NSU entered the seventh inning at the top of the order, trailing by two. Spaulding kept her batting average above .500 on the season with a leadoff single up the middle. Dakota Villella (So., Hollywood, Fla.) bunted her to second before centerfield made a gutsy play to steal third. With the tying run at the plate. Rollins' Fogle drew two popups to end the day and seal the series win.
 
Rotz recorded the loss after giving up two runs in 1.1 innings of work. Thornton finished the game, pitching 2.2 innings and surrendering a run and five hits. Offensively, Matautia went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Rotz finished 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBI.
 
NSU will look to salvage the series with a win to end the weekend Sunday at 1 p.m. against Rollins.