FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University's baseball team (0-3) suffered its third loss of the season to the visiting No. 2 Catawba Indians (1-2) on Sunday afternoon by a score of 5-2. Alex Mateo (0-1) took the loss, his first loss since March 29, 2015 against the Lynn Fighting Knights.
 
For the third game in a row, the Sharks fell into an early hole, finding themselves down 2-0 in the third inning. Catawba increased its lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning and 4-0 in the seventh inning, as the Sharks bats were unable to string a few hits together to climb back into the game. The Sharks had six innings in the ball game in which they left one or more runners on base, including four innings where there were runners in scoring position.
 
Despite being unable to push across a few runs, Brandon Gomez, Daniel Zardon and Andres Visbal each went 2-for-4. Andrew Liberty smashed the first home run of the Sharks' season, launching a fastball down-and-in over the scoreboard in left field in the ninth inning. Jancarlos Cintron-Torres and Dylan Woods each contributed a hit of their own.
 
On the mound, Mateo tossed five innings, striking out five batters. Mateo was relieved by Devin Raftery in the sixth inning and Raftery allowed just two runs over his four innings of work, while striking out three.
 
The Sharks will hit the road this coming weekend, as they travel to Alabama-Huntsville for a pivotal NCAA South Region matchup. The teams will play a doubleheader on Friday and Saturday, with the second game of each doubleheader being a seven-inning game. Stay tuned to nsusharks.com and @NSU_Baseball on Twitter for more information on NSU baseball and follow along this coming weekend as the team takes on Alabama-Huntsville.