Box Score BRACKET | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL PAGE | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEOLIVINGSTON, Ala. – The Nova Southeastern University baseball team (39-11, 18-6 SSC) opened up the NCAA South Region tournament with a win over Sunshine State Conference rival Lynn University (34-14-1, 14-9-1 SSC), defeating the Fighting Knights by a score of 8-1.
Justin Garcia (Jr., Hialeah, Fla.) hit his 25th and 26th home runs of the year, while
Alex Mateo (Jr., Miami, Fla.) picked up his 10th win.
The Sharks came in with a chip on their shoulder, looking to take down Lynn, the only team that won a series over NSU this year. Mateo set the tone early, striking out three of the first hitters he faced, setting the Fighting Knights down 1-2-3 in the top of the first and second inning. While Mateo was taking care of Lynn's offense, NSU was getting a feel for the Fighting Knights' starting pitcher Travis Connelly with three loud outs in the first two innings.
After one time through the order, NSU took a 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning, when
Andres Visbal (So., Miami, Fla.) led off the inning with a double to left-centerfield.
Dylan Woods (So., New Symrna Beach, Fla.) then bunted Visbal over to third base, followed by a
Roche Woodard (Sr., Tampa, Fla.) groundout to Lynn's shortstop, scoring Visbal from third.
Lynn threatened in the top of the fourth inning, loading the bases with two outs, but Mateo wasn't ready to let the Fighting Knights score, as he threw a 3-2 fastball on the outside corner to get Lynn's Matt Tietz swinging. Mateo stormed off of the mound with emotion and his offense rallied behind him, scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a commanding 7-0 lead.
Alexander Fernandez (Sr., Davie, Fla.) led the inning with a walk, followed by a back-to-back home runs, as Garcia crushed a two-run blast over the tailgate decks in right field and
Michael Hernandez (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) sent a towering shot over the leftfield fence. NSU then loaded the bases and Woodard laced a single to centerfield, scoring
Nick McNeil (Jr., Clearwater, Fla.).
Mario Urdaneta (Sr., Ocala, Fla.) then drew a walk, scoring
Kavan Thompson (Jr., Merritt Island, Fla.). After a Lynn pitching change, Fernandez was hit by a pitch, resulting in the sixth run of the inning as Visbal scored from third.
Lynn scored one run in the top of the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of John Borup. That was the only run Mateo allowed on the day, as he went seven strong and struck out six batters. Garcia put the icing on the cake in the bottom of the seventh inning, smashing a solo home run over the rightfield fence for his 26th home run of the year.
Devin Raftery (R-Jr., Deltona, Fla.) pitched the eighth and ninth innings, closing the door on game one of the NCAA South Regional.
The Sharks will face the winner of No. 3 Tampa vs. No. 4 Florida Tech Friday night at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET. Be sure to follow along with the team on Twitter (
@NSU_Baseball) and tune in to each game following the links on the
schedule page.
