FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 8 Nova Southeastern University baseball team (33-14, 16-5 SSC) will travel to Melbourne, Fla. for a three-game series against the Florida Tech Panthers (26-18, 8-10 SSC). The series marks the final weekend of the Sharks' regular season schedule. The series will begin on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and conclude with a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at noon.
The Sharks are coming off of a series win at No. 17 Florida Southern, taking two of three games from the Mocs in Lakeland. The Sharks were ranked third in the second release of the NCAA South Region poll this past week, trailing Tampa and West Florida. NSU will once again turn to SSC Pitcher of the Year candidate,
Alex Mateo, to set the tone for the weekend in Melbourne. The Sharks have won eight of Mateo's last nine games started and have rallied behind his success in the series opener to win eight of those nine series, including six sweeps and two road series wins over nationally ranked Tampa and Florida Southern. Mateo has been complimented by
Julian Loret de Mola on the backend of the weekend rotation, as "LDM" has gone on to win seven straight games that the senior has started. Loret de Mola's dominance has been on display since conference play began back in early March, as he has posted the lowest ERA in conference play this year, edging out Mateo's 2.45 ERA with a 2.25 ERA.
While Mateo and "LDM" have been dominant forces on the mound, the NSU offense has been on a tear and is one of the deepest lineups in the country.
Andres Visbal,
Kevin Suarez and Jancarlos Cintron are in the top 11 in average against conference opponents, hitting .385, .378 and .376, respectively. Visbal and
Brandon Gomez have been the keys to driving in runs for the Sharks in conference play, both ranking in the top four in RBI with 33 and 29, respectively. Overall, Gomez leads the SSC in RBI this season, driving in a total of 66 runs. While the top of the lineup and middle of the order have done a fantastic job in the Sharks 22-4 run, the bottom of the order has done a tremendous job turning the lineup over.
Kavan Thompson and
Dylan Woods have spent a majority of the last 26 games in the eight and nine hole in the lineup, and are both hitting .358 on the year, tied for the team lead.
Potential Pitching Matchups
Saturday
NSU:
Alex Mateo – 7-3, 13 GS, 81.2 IP, 3.09 ERA, 75 K, 18 BB, 78 H
FIT: Ty Cohen – 7-4, 13 GS, 73.1 IP, 4.54 ERA, 75 K, 16 BB, 75 H
Sunday – Game 1
NSU: TBA
FIT: TBA
Sunday – Game 2
NSU:
Julian Loret de Mola – 6-2, 8 GS, 58.0 IP, 2.48 ERA, 50 K, 26 BB, 47 H
FIT: Justus Labigang – 2-3, 12 GS, 54.0 IP, 4.67 ERA, 43 K, 16 BB, 45 H
You can follow along with the Sharks all weekend long on Twitter at @NSU_Baseball and by following the links on the schedule page.
