Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Nova Southeastern University's baseball team (11-2, 3-0) completed the sweep of the Eckerd College Tritons (3-10, 0-3) on Saturday, winning both games of the doubleheader by scores of 14-4 and 8-2, respectively. Jeremy Vasquez hit a home run in each of the contests, driving in six runs on the day. Matt Hardy (2-0) and Joe DiBenedetto (3-0) each picked up a win, each tossing seven innings.
Game One – NSU 14, EC 4
The Sharks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Brendan Cutting singled up the middle, scoring Kevin Suarez in the top of the second inning. Hardy maintained the one-run lead through the end of the fifth inning, before being gifted an eight-run cushion by his offense, when the Sharks scored seven runs in the top of the sixth inning.
The scoring began with a Sebastian Diaz bloop-single to right field, scoring Suarez. Jancarlos Cintron then stepped to the plate and smoked a single back up the middle to drive in Diaz. Dylan Woods followed with a three-run home run over the right field fence, extending the Sharks lead to 6-0. Jeremy Vasquez and Brandon Gomez would then reach base and Jake Anchia sent a fly ball to centerfield that ended up as a two-RBI triple when the Eckerd centerfielder lost the ball in the sun.
The Sharks offense wasn't satisfied with eight runs in game of the doubleheader and decided to tack on six more runs in the top of the ninth inning. Ryan Alvarez got the scoring started with a RBI-double, followed by a RBI-single off of the bat of Cintron. Woods then singled up the middle, scoring Alvarez and Vasquez capped the inning with a monster three-run home run over the right field wall, making the score 14-1.
Anthony DiFede came on to pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, making his second appearance of the year. The redshirt-freshman submariner allowed three runs but it wasn't anywhere near enough for the Tritons, as the Sharks took game one of the doubleheader in convincing fashion.
Game Two – NSU 8, EC 2
The Sharks fell behind early in the series finale, as DiBenedetto struggled to gain control through the first few batters and allowed a run to the Tritons. It didn't take long for DiBenedetto to settle in following the first inning, as he went on to strike out a career-high eleven batters on his way to his third win of the year.
The Sharks tied the ballgame at 1-1 in the third when Cutting drove a sac-fly deep enough to left field, scoring Cintron. NSU took the lead later in the inning when Sebastian Diaz drew a bases-loaded walk, allowing Vasquez to cross the plate. The Sharks would go on to score one run in each of the fourth and fifth innings, as Gomez smashed a RBI-single to centerfield and Michael Hernandez doubled off of the left-centerfield wall, scoring Suarez.
Eckerd would bring themselves within two runs in the sixth, scoring on a RBI-single up the middle. That was last offensive production for the Tritons in the ballgame as DiBenedetto, Cameron Churchill, and Josh Glick threw zero's on the scoreboard for the final three innings.
NSU took complete control of the ballgame in the top of the eighth inning, as Vasquez launched his second big fly of the day, a three-run dinger over the right field fence. The Sharks went on to score once more on a sacrifice fly from Michael Hernandez in the ninth.
The No. 1 team in the country will be back in action next weekend against conference rival Lynn University. Action will begin Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. and conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday, set to begin at 11:00 a.m.
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