FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University softball team (13-15) will play its final home series against the Lynn Fighting Knights (17-14, 7-5 SSC) at the AD Griffin Sports Complex. The Sharks will play a single game on Thursday at 6 p.m. and a doubleheader Friday beginning at 1 p.m.
The Sharks will aim to go back over .500 this week and string together another winning streak. Winners of eight of their first 11 games, the squad has proven they can get hot and take down the nation's best teams. NSU already owns victories over then-ranked No. 9 North Georgia, No. 12 Alabama-Huntsville and No. 25 Wingate.
The team's most recent wins came on March 24 in a doubleheader against Albany State, winning 5-0 and 4-1. In game one,
Rebecca Thornton (So., Lodi, Calif.) threw a one-hitter to earn her 10th victory of the season. She did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and only put on two runners. She picked up six strikeouts, tying her career-best mark, without a walk.
Pitching would be the catalyst in the second victory against the Golden Rams.
Taylor Rotz (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) (1-3) earned her first win of the season and kept Albany State scoreless for six innings. She held them to seven hits and struck out a career-high eight batters. On offense, Rotz went 2-for-2 with a run and a RBI. Thornton went 2-for-3 and also recorded a run a RBI.
NSU will see a stiffer test in its return to Sunshine State Conference play. The Fighting Knights have had a bit of a softball renaissance this season. At 7-5, they have tied the most wins in conference the program has had in the last decade with nine SSC games remaining. They won their series on the road against Florida Southern and recently swept the Eckerd Tritons, a team that had won 21 straight games earlier in the year.
The Fighting Knights are led by seniors Christina Carvatta and Cherise McEnery. Carvatta leads the team with a .372 batting average with nine runs score. McEnery is slugging a team-best .606 with 18 runs and 21 RBI. In the circle, Missy Montgomery and Francais Olexa have combined for 181.1 innings played this season and are expected to be the starters for Lynn.
In the all-time series, NSU owns a 40-23-1 record over Lynn. The Sharks swept the Fighting Knights on the road in 2014, winning the series by a combined score of 20-3.
Follow @NSU_Softball on Twitter for in game updates throughout the series.
