Box Score WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University baseball team (26-6, 7-2 SSC) is back to its winning ways, after defeating the Palm Beach Atlantic Univeristy Sailfish (17-13) on Monday night, scoring seven runs in the last three innings to win by a score of 10-3.
Gilberto Torres (Fr., Miami, Fla.) earned the win, marking his fourth midweek win in a row.
PBA struck first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead. The Sailfish added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning, sending a single to left field off of the Sharks' starting pitcher,
Matt Hardy (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.), extending their lead to 3-0.
PBA's starting pitcher, Josh Turner, was dominant through five innings, holding the NSU offense to just two hits and zero runs. The tide turned in the sixth inning, as
Mario Urdaneta (Sr., Ocala, Fla.) led the inning off with a single to left field, followed by a
Justin Garcia (Jr., Hialeah, Fla.) single that advanced Urdaneta to third base. With runners on first and third and one out in the inning,
Yandy Viera (Sr., Hialeah, Fla.) stepped to the plate and sent an 88 mph fastball over the left field fence, tying the game at 3-3. Viera's home run is just the seventh home run to be hit at the brand new, massive Rinker Park.
The Sharks took the lead in the top of the seventh inning, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Urdaneta then laid a sacrifice bunt down, advanced
Roche Woodard (Sr., Tampa, Fla.) and
Dylan Woods (So., New Symrna Beach, Fla.) to second and third base. Woods scored a few pitchers later, hustling home on a wild pitch that skipped in front of the PBA catcher.
Heading into the bottom of the seventh with a 4-3 lead, Torres took care of the Sailfish offense, proceeding to hand the ball to
Zachary Westcott (R-Sr., Weston, Fla.), who tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning.
Looking to add a few insurance runs, NSU's did just so, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth inning. The PBA defense committed two errors on an Urdaneta bunt, leading to Woods and Woodard scoring on the play. The Sharks pushed another run across on a wild pitch during Garcia's at-bat, scoring Urdaneta to take a 7-3 lead. NSU took matters into its own hands, as
Ryan Dodge (Fr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) came up with a pinch-hit RBI single, followed by a single from
Andres Visbal (So., Miami, Fla.), scoring two more runs.
Julian Pino (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) joined in on the fun, added an RBI after drawing a walk to extend the lead to 11-3.
Westcott came back out in the ninth inning and shut the door on the Sailfish, as the Sharks earned the victory in the second round of the Battle of the Fish.
The Sharks will be back in action Friday night at 6 p.m., hosting the No. 3 University of Tampa Spartans in the highest ranked Easter weekend matchup across NCAA Division II. Be sure to tune in to each game, following the links on the
schedule page.
