WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern offense struck early and often Tuesday, as the Sharks tallied 19 hits en route to a comfortable 14-5 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic at Rubin Park in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Shortstop Dylan Woods continued his recent tear, finishing 3-for-6 including a three-run blast in the sixth inning. Jeremy Vasquez added three hits of his own to go along with three runs batted in, while designated hitter Brendan Cutting launched his second homer of the season. Overall, six Sharks' players recorded multi-hit effort, raising the team average to .323 through nine games.
The Sharks opened the scoring in the top half of the first following an RBI-single by Vasquez, and soon chased Palm Beach Atlantic starting pitcher Sean Horner thanks to a five-run second inning in which nine batters were sent to the plate.
Just as the Sailfish reclaimed a bit of momentum by trimming the Nova Southeastern lead to 6-4, Cutting connected on a deep drive to straight away center in the top of the fourth to double up Palm Beach Atlantic by an 8-4 margin.
The offensive onslaught didn't stop there, though. Up 9-4 in the sixth, Cutting plated Jake Anchia for his third run of the contest on a sharp single up the middle. Ryan Alvarez then tacked on another run-scoring base hit before Woods capped the Sharks' second five-run inning of the night with long ball over the wall in left. Woods finished the ball game just a triple shy of the cycle, and is now batting .500 in his last three games.
Reliever Ryan Maya earned the victory out of the bullpen, improving to 2-0 on the season after registering three strikeouts in 3.1 scoreless innings of work.
The 19 hits recorded by the Sharks are the most in a single game since April 15, 2016 against Rollins.
NSU will be off until next Tuesday when it returns to the diamond at home against Flagler. For complete coverage of NSU throughout the season, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.
