FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University baseball team will open its 2016 campaign this weekend, hosting Tusculum, Newberry and Catawba on consecutive days. Friday night's matchup will begin at 6:20 p.m. with the 2015 Sunshine State Conference championship team being honored prior to first pitch, while Saturday and Sunday's games are set to begin at 1:00 p.m.
 
The Sharks come into the season with high expectations after winning the SSC in 2015, becoming the first team to do so in program history. NSU was voted to finish second in the SSC behind the defending national champions, the Tampa Spartans.
 
Heading into the season as a top-20 nationally ranked team, head coach Greg Brown's ball club will look to take the next step and take a trip to Cary, N.C. for the Division II College World Series. That trek begins Friday night with Tusculum, a team that finished its 2015 with a 33-19 overall record and in third place in the South Atlantic Conference at 18-11. They were picked to finish second in the SAC this season and sixth in the Southeast Region by the NCBWA. The Pioneers are led by Placido Torres, an All-Southeast Region First Team selection after a 2015 season in which he was 9-3 in 17 games (13 starts), with a 2.43 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 85.1 innings pitched.
 
The Sharks will return to the ballpark Saturday to take on Newberry. The Wolves finished the 2015 season with a 34-18 overall record and in second place in the South Atlantic Conference at 21-8. They were picked to finish third in the SAC this season. Newberry's JoJo Bradley was an All-SAC First Team selection in 2015, after hitting .351 with 11 doubles, seven triples (fourth in DII), four home runs, 39 RBI and 45 runs scored.
 
The final game of the weekend can be considered the best opening weekend matchup in Division II, as Alex Mateo will take the mound against the 2015 NCAA Runner-ups and No. 2 team in the country, the Catawba Indians. Catawba's Will Albertson was the NCAA Division II National Position Player of the Year as a junior in 2015, with 26 home runs, 91 RBI and a DII-leading .467 batting average as a catcher. He was named to the SAC and Southeast Region First Teams.
 
With Alex Mateo throwing on Sunday against Catawba, the Sharks will send Julian Loret de Mola to the mound on Opening Night and Jonny Ortiz on Saturday. NSU will look to continue its opening weekend trend of the past two years by winning all of its first three games. Each game will be broadcast right here on nsusharks.com.