FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University's baseball team (18-11, 8-4 SSC) will travel to Miami Shores to take on the Barry University Bucs (18-12, 2-4 SSC) in a Sunshine State Conference three-game series. The Sharks have won five of their last six SSC games, taking two-of-three from Tampa and sweeping Saint Leo. NSU also features a sweep of the Eckerd Tritons in conference play.
 
Potential Pitching Matchups
 
Friday
NSU: Alex Mateo – 4-3, 8 GS, 51.1 IP, 2.63 ERA, 51 K, 13 BB, 47 H
BU: TBA
 
Saturday – Game 1
NSU: Matt Hardy – 5-1, 7 GS, 37.2 IP, 3.82 ERA, 22 K, 18 BB, 36 H
BU: TBA
 
Sunday – Game 2
NSU: Julian Loret de Mola – 2-2, 3 GS, 26.1 IP, 3.76 ERA, 22 K, 12 BB, 21 H
BU: TBA
 
Barry's Luis Deville, Alex Lavandero, Jonathan Hernandez and Daniel Broeseker are the likely candidates for the Bucs as far as going up against Mateo, Hardy and Loret de Mola. Deville and Lavandero have each started eight games, but have yet to solidify themselves as the number one or number two pitcher for the Bucs.

#MaxFacts

• In last Thursday's 11-4 victory over Saint Leo, Dallas Perez's second inning grand slam was the 31^st since NSU became a full NCAA/SSC member, but only the second by a freshman. The first was by Detroit Tigers All-Star J.D. Martinez in 2007.
• Perez became the 10^th player to hit a grand slam in a Sunshine State Conference game, as well as the 10^th to hit a grand slam for his first career home run, but the first to do both at once.
• Sebastian Diaz also hit his first career home run in that game, the second time this season two Sharks both hit their first homer in the same game and the eighth time since 2002. The first was the series opener against Tuskegee on Feb. 19, when Brandon Gomez and Danny Zardon both went deep.
• Perez and Diaz are the first pair to reach the milestone in a SSC game.
• Ronald Patella has not allowed a run or a walk in 8.1 innings pitched so far this season, allowing just six hits and striking out three. That's the second-most innings through the end of March without either walking a batter or allowing a baserunner to score since 2001. The most innings without issuing a walk is 10.2, set by Joe Franco in 2006, while Patella himself crushed the record for most innings without allowing a run in 2014, when he started the season with 19 consecutive scoreless innings, 11.2 of which came in March.
• In 26 career appearances and 34.2 innings pitched in February and March, Patella now has a 1.30 ERA and .211 opponent batting average. He has 29 strikeouts to 10 walks, and has allowed five earned runs on 28 hits, of which only six were for extra bases.
• Alex Mateo has already struck out 51 batters in just 51.1 innings of work this season, which is tied with esteemed alumni and former DII SAAC National Chairman Roberto "Bubba" Baroniel for second through March since 2005. Houston Astros starter Mike Fiers obviously holds the record; he piled up an incredible 99 strikeouts in 64.1 innings in the first two months of the 2009 season.
• Alex Kline pitched 8.1 nearly-hitless innings in March, the only hit he allowed in 26 at bats coming last weekend against Saint Leo, his last appearance of the month. He struck out nine batters and walked three in his scoreless month.
• Kline will finish his career with a 1.40 ERA, .134 opponent average and 20 strikeouts in 19.1 March innings. In addition to his 8.1 scoreless innings last month, he also threw six scoreless as a freshman in 2013, keeping batters just 1-of-18 against him, with 9 strikeouts to one walk.
• Kline's 8.1 scoreless innings are tied with Sean Albury (March 2010) for seventh-most in a single calendar month. The record belongs to Mitchell Buerosse, who put up 16 scoreless in March of 2014, followed by Zac Westcott's 14.2 innings last April. Josh Glick's nine innings from that same month are sixth, while Ronald Patella's aforementioned 11.2 in March 2014 are fourth. Mike Gonzalez (11 in March '12) and Nick Carris (10.2 in Feb. '05) round out the top eight.
• In addition, Kline also broke his own record for lowest opponent batting average in a single month in at least six innings with last month's 0.038. His previous record, 0.056, was set in March of 2013 in six innings.
• Devin Raftery struck out 22 batters last month in just 12 innings, which ranks as the second-highest strikeout total by a reliever in a single calendar month. Zac Westcott (in his aforementioned 14.2 scoreless innings) set the record with 26 strikeouts last April.
• Raftery also set the record for most innings pitched in a month without allowing a hit back in February, with five. Kenny Miranda held the previous record, tossing 4.1 no-hit innings in March of 2012.
• Raftery, with 30 strikeouts in 21 innings on the year, tied himself for second-most by the end of March. He had the same total at this same point of the year last season, and was just three short of Isaac Hicks, who struck out 33 batters in 34.2 innings in 2010.
• Julian Loret de Mola held batters to a 0.186 average in 20 innings last month, which is the seventh-lowest average by a pitcher with at least that many innings in a month. The record of 0.159 is held by both Yomiuri Giants starter Miles Mikolas (Feb. 2009) and Houston Astros starter Mike Fiers the very next month.
• As a team, the Sharks have 38 home runs, their second-highest total at this point of the season, behind only the 2009 team's 46 home runs through March, who then went on break the single-season team record with 73 at the end of the season.
• This is the second year in a row that the Sharks will start April with at least eight home runs, something that had not been done at any point in the 14 seasons prior. Brandon Gomez and Daniel Zardon share the team lead with eight right now, while, at this point last season, Houston Astros prospect Justin Garcia had 11, en route to his single-season record-setting total of 26, and Miami Marlins prospect Alexander Fernandez was not far behind with nine.

You can follow along with the Sharks all weekend on twitter at @NSU_Baseball and tune in to watch the games live following the links on the schedule page.