FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Jeremy Vasquez delivered the clutch walk-off single, while
Josh Glick tossed 1.2 scoreless innings to earn the win in his first appearance on the mound since 2015 as top-ranked Nova Southeastern remained perfect on the season with an 8-7 victory over Barry in 11 innings Sunday afternoon.
Jancarlos Cintron reached base three times in the ball game, and opened up the bottom of the 11
th with a lead-off walk. With two outs, the senior then moved into scoring position after swiping his second base of the day. Two pitches later, Vasquez roped the Nate Greve offering into right field, ending the four-plus hour affair in dramatic fashion. Through his first four games as a Shark, Vasquez has already tabbed five RBI's to go along with his .500 batting average.
Both offenses started hot from the outset until the bullpens dominated the latter portion of the back-and-forth battle. Nova Southeastern struck first in the bottom half of the opening frame for the third time in four games after shortstop
Dylan Woods lifted a deep fly over the wall in right for his first home run of the season. The Sharks weren't done, though, and tacked on another run on a
Kevin Suarez RBI-single up the middle to give Nova Southeastern the quick 2-0 edge.
Despite just two hits in the inning, Barry answered back with a five-run second to hand the Sharks their first deficit of the year. Nova Southeastern would respond, though, in the fourth by sending nine batters to the plate as part of its own five-run frame. Cintron picked up a pair of RBI's on a single into right center before a Vasquez sacrifice fly and a
Jake Anchia run-scoring double helped the Sharks reclaim the lead.
Both sides were knotted up at seven following the conclusion of the fifth inning, but the bullpens took over from there. Barry's relief arms surrendered just four hits in seven innings of work. However, the combination of
Jonny Ortiz and Glick were one pitch better, holding the Bucs scoreless while yielding only three hits in 6.1 innings.
"That was a grinder," said head coach
Greg Brown following the 'W'. "I'm really proud of
Josh Glick, making his debut after coming back from injury, and then Jeremy picks up the big, two-out hit to win the game. That's what it's about. I believe in this club, I believe in this lineup, and I think we're going to be very successful if we continue to play the game the way we have."
Following Woods' first-inning blast, the Sharks have now gone yard a total of 10 times through the season's first weekend of action – only one other team in the Sunshine State Conference has recorded more than three home runs to this point.
In a quick turnaround, NSU will return to the diamond at home on Tuesday against St. Thomas (Fla.). For complete coverage the action, log onto
NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.
