Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. – The top ranked Nova Southeastern University Sharks (36-10, 16-5 SSC) swept their Saturday doubleheader in Saint Petersburg, beating the Eckerd College Tritons (20-27, 7-15 SSC) by a score of 12-1 in the first game, following by a 15-5 in the series finale. The Sharks hit 11 home runs on the day, five of which came off of the bat of
Justin Garcia (Jr., Hialeah, Fla.). Coming into the day with 16 homer runs, Garcia shattered the school home run record of 17.
Game One Mario Urdaneta (Sr., Ocala, Fla.) led the home run parade, launching a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Sharks a 2-0 lead. Eckerd answered back with a run in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 2-1. That was the last time that the Tritons crossed home plate in the game, as the Sharks poured on the runs throughout the rest of the game.
Garcia hit his first home run of the day in the top of the third inning to tie the school record, sending a two-run home run over the left centerfield fence. In the top of the fourth inning, Urdaneta added his third and fourth RBI's of the day, singling to centerfield to score
Andres Visbal (So., Miami, Fla.) and
Nick McNeil (Jr., Clearwater, Fla.).
In the sixth inning, Alexander Fernandez doubled to drive in Urdaneta and
Dylan Woods (So., New Symrna Beach, Fla.). Garcia then hit his second home run of the day, a two-run shot to break the school record, measured at roughly 475 feet. With a 10-1 lead, NSU added two more runs on a Woods RBI single and a
Teft Hill (R-So., Fort Myers, Fla.) home run.
While the offense did its job,
Alex Mateo (Jr., Miami, Fla.) was dominant, tossing 8.0 innings, while allowing just three hits and striking out nine batters on his way to his eighth win.
Game Two NSU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, as Garcia hit a solo home run and a two-run home run, followed by a Urdaneta RBI single. Down four, Eckerd came all the way back, scoring five runs off of NSU's starting pitcher
Ryan Castellanos (Jr., Davie, Fla.), ending Castellanos' day.
Zachary Westcott (R-Sr., Weston, Fla.) took over the pitching duties from there and was lights out, tossing 3.1 innings, while striking out nine batters.
After the Sharks scored two runs to take a 7-5 lead, the skies opened up and the Sharks made it rain, launching five home runs off of the bats of Garcia, Woodard,
Michael Hernandez (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.), McNeil and Hill. In all, the Sharks hit seven home runs in the series finale and 11 home runs on the day.
Westcott earned the win, marking his fourth win of the year. He lowered his ERA from a 2.06 to a 1.88 in the process and lowered his conference ERA from a 0.91 to a 0.79.
NSU will be back in action Friday night at 6 p.m., hosting its final series of the year against the Barry Bucs. The series will conclude on Saturday with a doubleheader set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday is also Senior Day, honoring all of the Sharks seniors on their outstanding careers. Tune in to each game following the links on the schedule page.
