WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University baseball team (23-11, 11-4 SSC) came out on top against the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish (17-19) on Friday night, winning by a score of 6-4.
Ronald Patella earned the win, tossing 0.1 innings in relief of NSU's starter
Alex Mateo. The Sharks have now won 10 in a row, marking their third 10-game win streak in the NCAA era.
The Sharks scored first for the fifth straight weekend game in a row, as the RBI-machine
Brandon Gomez singled through the left side, scoring
Sebastian Diaz from second base. PBA returned the favor in the bottom half of the first, scattering three hits for one run against Mateo.
With the score all knotted at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning, the Sailfish sprayed another three hits against Mateo to take a 3-1 lead. It didn't take the Sharks very long to tie the game a 3-3, as Gomez doubled in the top of the fifth inning, scoring
Daniel Zardon and
Kevin Suarez.
The Sailfish wouldn't go away, scoring with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the score 4-3. Zardon erased the PBA lead in the top of the seventh, launching a no-doubter over the left field wall to make the score 4-4.
In the top of the eighth,
Kevin Suarez led the inning off with a triple to right centerfield, putting the Sharks in prime position to take the lead. Head coach
Greg Brown decided to send
Kavan Thompson to the plate in a moment made for the senior. Thompson executed a perfect squeeze bunt, as Suarez raced home from third to take a 5-4 lead. Gomez added an insurance run in the ninth, hitting a solo home run way over the fence in left-centerfield.
Devin Raftery tossed the final two innings in relief, earning his seventh save of the year. The Sharks will be back in action Saturday afternoon beginning at noon. Following along with the Sharks all day long on Twitter at @NSU_Baseball and by following the links on the schedule page.
Tweets of the Night
