Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University softball team fell short late in the opener, but salvaged a split of Friday's doubleheader with a win in their last at-bat in the nightcap. Lynn won 6-5 in game one and the Sharks 2-1 in the finale at the A.D. Griffin Sports Complex.
 
NSU (14-17, 2-10 SSC) had ample opportunity in game one, leaving 12 runners stranded, including the bases loaded twice. They came back from a 5-3 deficit to tie it in the sixth on a two-run single by Te Reo Powhiri Matautia (Jr., Auckland, New Zealand), but Leanne Wright won it for Lynn (19-15, 9-6 SSC)  with a seventh-inning home run.
 
In the series finale, it was the Sharks' turn for a late-inning game-winner, as a two-out single by Jessie Brown (Fr., Davie, Fla.) in the bottom of the sixth was the difference, complimenting a spectacular outing in the circle by starting pitcher Rebecca Thornton (So., Lodi, Calif.).
 
GAME ONE
Lynn took a 3-0 lead in the first, making for an early call to the NSU bullpen to reliever Maegan Lee (Sr., Miami). She kept the Fighting Knights at bay for the next few innings as her offense chipped away at the lead.
 
The first run from the home team came in the bottom half of the opening inning, as a Katrina Ammons (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla.) single plated Matautia (who had walked earlier) from second. 
 
Though Lynn pushed ahead in their next at-bat 4-1, two more Shark runs cut the deficit to one in the third. Thornton pushed Lee across with a double, and two batters later, Katey Blummer (So., Naples, Fla.) notched her first run batted in of the season with a sharp single to left as Matautia crossed to make it 4-3.
 
Though they had the bases loaded with one out, that was all NSU would get in that inning, and Lynn would have an immediate answer to go up 5-3 in the fourth. The Sharks had one on in the bottom and two more in the fifth, but weren't able to break through until inning No. 6.
 
Haley Gonzales (Fr., Boca Raton, Fla.) started the frame off with a single, followed by a perfectly-laid down bunt for a single by Lorena Spaulding (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.). Each advanced on a sacrifice by Lee, and Matautia laced a single to left-center to score both and knot the game at 5-5.
 
Though the lead was short-lived due to Wright's homer over the leftfield fence, Lee was tremendous in relief. She spaced out six hits over five and two-thirds innings before turning it over to Thornton for the final two outs.
 
Again, stranded runners were the bane of the game for the Sharks, as in their final turn, Gonzales and Spaulding each reached via the walk, but were left at third and second, respectively.

Thornton had two of the team's eight hits in game one, while Matautia scored twice in addition to her two RBI.
 
GAME TWO
The Sharks took their first lead of the series in the fifth as starters Thornton and Katelyn Key of Lynn dueled in the circle up until that point with scoreless frame after scoreless frame. Thornton gave up one hit in the first five innings while Key too only had a lone hit against her through four.
 
It was the fifth that saw NSU finally break through. After Gonzales was hit by a pitch, she was erased on the basepaths on an Angilica Montalvo (Fr., Miami) fielder's choice. Spaulding singled to put Montalvo in scoring position, and she reached home on a two-out single up the middle by Lee.

As they'd done throughout the day, the Fighting Knights had a quick counter, tying it in the sixth. With one out, Sara Vazquez singled, ending a stretch that saw Thornton retire 13 straight Fighting Knights. Eventually Vazquez came around on a single, also with two outs, by Kaci Vassallo, for a tie ballgame, 1-1.
 
The game-winner came just as fast, in the very next Shark at-bat. With one out, Blummer doubled to the left-center field gap. Her pinch-runner, Dakota Villella (So., Hollywood, Fla.) moved to third on another successful sacrifice, this time by Matautia, and then scored on the two-out single by Brown.
 
Thornton had one more hit against her, just the fifth of the evening, but got the last two Fighting Knights out for her 11th victory of the season in 18 decisions. The only run she allowed was unearned in the complete-game win.

The Sharks next head to Miami Shores for the first series of three straight on the road within conference play. They face the Barry Bucs this Tuesday for game one, at 6 p.m., followed by a Wednesday doubleheader.