FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University softball (5-15, 1-8 SSC) split a two-game series with West Liberty University (1-5) on Sunday afternoon, winning the second game 10-2 but dropping the first 4-3.
Megan Granitto (Fr., Wellington, Fla.) would see her first win in the circle (1-3) as she pitched five innings with two strikeouts and only relinquishing one walk and six hits. Callaway Barr (0-3) picked up the loss for West Liberty and was one of five pitchers to face the Sharks in the second game. The Sharks saw seven of their starting lineup earn hits with three players picking up two RBI.
Dajia Jones (Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.) moves to 2-7 on the year, earning the loss for NSU in the first game with two innings pitched, three hits and two earned runs.
Erica Winter (Fr., Blaine, Minn) took over in the third also giving up three hits and two runs. Savanna Sieger (1-2) would see her first win of the season for the Hilltoppers in the day's first game.
Game 1 The Sharks saw their third one-run loss of the weekend after their rally fell just short in the first of the day's doubleheader action. The Hilltoppers went up by two in the top of third off of two hits, two batters being hit by Jones and a walk. The Sharks would go three up, three down in their next two appearances.
West Liberty went up 3-0 in the top of the fifth, but NSU answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Haley Gonzales (So., Boca Raton, Fla.) started the rally with a single to right field and promptly stole second base.
Sophia Devesa (Fr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) reached on an error that also advance Gonzales to third.
Jessie Brown's (So., Hollywood, Fla.) groundout to the pitcher scored Gonzales and Devesa followed when
Ashley Roe (Jr., Flower Mound, Texas) singled up the middle.
The Hilltoppers would get their final run in the top of the seventh and the Sharks would answer with one of their own in the bottom of the seventh as Granitto began the inning with a single. With two runners on, Roe would earn her second RBI to score Granitto but the Sharks would come up short as
Rachel Minier (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) popped out to shortstop to end the game.
Game 2The Sharks saw their offense come on right away in game two of the doubleheader. Barr walked three consecutive batters to start the bottom of the first. Minier and
Dakota Villella (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) would both score from a single to left field by Jones. Sieger would come in to pitch for West Liberty and would throw a wild pitch to score
Katey Blummer (Jr., Naples, Fla.). Jones would score the fourth and final run of the inning off a Devesa single to left.
NSU would put up another four runs in their next time at the plate in the bottom of the second. Minier led off with a bunt single and moved to third off a double by Villella. Blummer followed with a two-RBI double of her own to put the Sharks up 6-0. Jones had her second hit of the game and Gonzales was hit by a pitch to load them up for NSU. Blummer scored off a hit by Granitto and then Jones scored off a single by Brown.
The Hilltoppers saw one run in both the top of the third and top of the fifth innings to bring the score to 8-2 in the bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back walks put Jones and Gonzales on base and both moved over due to a wild pitch from West Liberty's fifth pitcher of the game Kaitlyn Higgenbotham. Granitto would pick up a RBI and bring home Jones, and Gonzales would score on a wild pitch to end the game 10-2 via the run-rule.
The Sharks will have a few days of practice before they head up to Clermont, Florida for the Spring Games Tournament. NSU will face six opponents beginning with Upper Iowa and Ferris State on Friday, March 11 at 5 p.m.
