Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – In need of two wins on Saturday to win the series and keep its position atop the Sunshine State Conference, the No. 2 Nova Southeastern University Sharks baseball team (32-7, 12-3 SSC) won both games against the No. 4 Florida Tech Panthers (32-7, 13-6 SSC) on Saturday, winning the first game by a score of 12-7 and the series finale 7-2.
Game One The story of game one was pitching up until the eighth inning, as
Alex Mateo (Jr., Miami, Fla.) and FIT's Scott Ward kept both teams off balance for two-thirds of the contest. The Sharks' first three runs came from solo-home runs off of the bats of
Roche Woodard (Sr., Tampa, Fla.),
Michael Hernandez (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and
Yandy Viera (Sr., Hialeah, Fla.).
Unfortunately for Mateo, he allowed four runs, but only one of them were earned. He left the game after six innings pitched with a career-high 10 strikeouts. After
Josh Glick (Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.) came on in relief of Mateo and allowed three runs in the top of the eighth inning, the NSU offense was down to its last six outs with a tall task ahead of them if they were to win the ballgame.
The offense rose to the challenge, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to take a 12-7 lead. Woodard led the inning with his a solo-home run, his second round tripper of the day. Hernandez and Viera followed with RBI singles to make the score 7-6. With one out in the inning,
Antonio Rodriguez (Jr., Coral Gables, Fla.) pinch-hit, drawing a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 7-7.
Dylan Woods (So., New Symrna Beach, Fla.) then singled over the shortstop's head to drive in
Teft Hill (R-So., Fort Myers, Fla.) from third, giving the Sharks an 8-7 lead. Woodard then came up for the second time in the inning, and was inches away from a grand slam, crushing a line drive off of the yellow tubing on the top of the fence for a bases-clearing triple to give the Sharks an 11-7 lead. He was later driven in by an
Alexander Fernandez (Sr., Davie, Fla.) single through the left side, extended the lead to 12-7.
Devin Raftery (R-Jr., Deltona, Fla.) came in to record the final three outs in the top of the ninth, as the Sharks took game one of the doubleheader. Glick earned the win, making his record 1-0.
Game Two Game two was the rubber match between two of the top five teams in NCAA Division II and
Ryan Castellanos (Jr., Davie, Fla.) was determined to let the series swing in the Sharks' favor. Castellanos pitched eight innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on just seven hits to record his seventh win of the season.
After FIT jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, NSU scored three runs in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead.
Justin Garcia (Jr., Hialeah, Fla.) led the inning with a solo-home run over the right field fence. After Hernandez singled and advanced to second,
Andres Visbal (So., Miami, Fla.) tripled to right centerfield, scoring Hernandez. Woodard followed with a double to score Visbal, giving the Sharks a 3-1 lead.
NSU extended their lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Fernandez sent his tenth home run of the year over the left field fence for a three-run home run. Visbal added one more run to extend the lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the seventh, sending a sacrifice fly to deep right field to score Hernandez from third.
FIT scored one run in the top of the eighth inning but it was too little too late, as
Zachary Westcott (R-Sr., Weston, Fla.) shut the door in the bottom of the ninth, striking out three batters to end the game.
The Sharks will be back in action Tuesday night, as they travel to Palm Beach Atlantic for Battle of the Fish: Part IV. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. Be sure to tune in to the game, following the links on the schedule page.
