FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Nova Southeastern University softball team (3-9, 0-3 SSC) was swept by Barry University (6-5, 3-0 SSC) 16-2 and 8-5 to conclude a three-game series and the Sharks first weekend of Sunshine State Conference play on Saturday afternoon at the AD Griffin Sports Complex.

Erica Winter (Fr., Blaine, Minn.) pitched the first game giving up seven walks, 15 hits and 16 runs. Dajia Jones (Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.) was in the circle for the second game, picking up three strikeouts but walked six, allowed six hits and seven earned runs. Winter falls to 1-4 on the season, while Jones is 2-4.

Game 1
Starting the series with an 8-2 loss the night before, the Sharks' struggles continued through the final day of the three-game series. Barry jumped out to a 6-0 lead scoring twice in the first and added another four runs in the second.

After a scoreless third, the Buccaneers erupted with eight hits and scored 10 runs in the top half of the fourth frame to take a 16-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Sharks managed to cut into the Bucs lead. Jones led off with a double followed by a Haley Gonzales (So., Boca Raton, Fla.) single to put runners at the corners. The next two batters popped up and struck out, but Winter doubled in the Sharks' only two runs of the game before the final out of the inning. The game ended after a scoreless fifth as NSU fell 16-2.

Katey Blummer (Jr., Naples, Fla.) led the Sharks at the plate going 2-for-3.

Game 2
In the nightcap, NSU faced yet another early deficit. Barry took advantage of an early Sharks' defensive miscue and plated two runs for an early 2-0 lead after the first inning on a RBI double from the Bucs' Cheyanne Head.

NSU came out of the second inning unscathed, but Barry put up five more in the fifth to take a 7-0 lead after three innings of play. Barry drew five walks in the inning and scored their runs on a Hunter Mars 2-RBI single, a wild pitch, a Geneva RBI single and Alayna Gallagher sacrifice fly.

Trailing by seven, the Sharks weren't going down without a fight. NSU managed to hold Barry scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings. Then in the bottom of the fifth, the offense came alive and scored four runs to narrow the gap to 7-4. Rachel Minier (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) led off the inning with a double and later scored on a Buccaneer fielding error. Jones singled in a run and Jessie Brown (So., Hollywood, Fla.) doubled down the left field line to plate another two.

In the top of the sixth, Barry added a single run to extend their lead to 8-4, but the Sharks responded in the bottom half of the frame when Minier doubled again and later scored on a Dakota Villella (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) RBI single. But the Sharks' offensive surge fell short after a scoreless seventh with the final result ending in an 8-5 loss.

Minier was perfect at the plate for NSU going 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and scoring twice. Brown added two hits and two RBI, while Villella and Jones each drove in a run.

The Sharks will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 26 as they take on Saint Leo in St. Leo, Florida for the first of a three-game conference series.