FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The top ranked Nova Southeastern University Sharks (32-8, 12-3 SSC) baseball team will take a weekend road trip to Winter Park, Florida to take on the Rollins College Tars (18-22, 3-12 SSC) in a three-game Sunshine State Conference series set to begin Friday at 6 p.m. and conclude on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
NSU looks to continue its reign atop the SSC, needing six more conference wins (as of Thursday afternoon) to clinch its first conference title in the history of the program. Leading the way will be the offensive production of
Justin Garcia (Jr., Hialeah, Fla.) and
Roche Woodard (Sr., Tampa, Fla.), who are each hitting above .400 against conference opponents, followed by
Michael Hernandez (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and
Kavan Thompson (Jr., Merritt Island, Fla.), each hitting above .300 against conference opponents. Garcia leads the conference in nearly every power category against SSC opponents, sitting atop the SSC in home runs (11), RBI (27), total bases (66) and slugging percentage (1.031).
While the offense has been a bright spot throughout most of the year, the NSU pitching staff has been phenomenal in 2015. Against SSC opponents,
Zachary Westcott (R-Sr., Weston, Fla.) has been dominant out of the bullpen, leading the conference in ERA (1.12) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.25). The weekend rotation has set the tone all year long, collecting 19 of the 32 wins.
Devin Raftery (R-Jr., Deltona, Fla.) has been lights out as well, leading the team in saves (5) and appearances (18).
NSU's pitching staff will go up against a Rollins team that plays a different style of baseball than many of the teams that the Sharks have faced this year, looking to manufacture runs with sacrifice bunts and stealing bases. The Tars are fourth in the country in steals, led by Christian Coburn, who is second in NCAA Division II with 32.
Potential Pitching Matchups Game 1:
Roberto Baroniel (Sr., Miami, Fla.) (6-2 4.00 ERA) vs. Matt Tulley (2-7 5.00 ERA)
Game 2:
Alex Mateo (Jr., Miami, Fla.) (6-1 4.72 ERA) vs. Seth Brenner (4-4 2.56 ERA)
Game 3:
Ryan Castellanos (Jr., Davie, Fla.) (7-2 3.21 ERA) vs. Brian Auerbach (2-2 3.23 ERA)
First pitch for Friday night is set for 6 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. Be sure to tune into each game, following the links on the schedule page.
