AIKEN, S.C. – In what began as an ideal start for Nova Southeastern, Friday night's ball game eventually turned south for the Sharks as the nation's top-ranked club fell 11-3 in game two of the series against No. 3 South Carolina-Aiken.

The Sharks jumped out to a 3-0 lead early on thanks to a Michael Hernandez home run and an RBI-double off the bat of Brandon Gomez. However, the home team Pacers would respond with three runs of their own in the fourth inning before ultimately reeling off 11 unanswered runs to send Nova Southeastern to its third consecutive loss.

Entering the night having tallied double-digit runs in six of its last seven contests, the Nova Southeastern bats were held in check by USC-Aiken starter Joseph Benitez and company. Sharks' shortstop Dylan Woods finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, yet the remainder of the lineup combined for just five hits altogether.

Right-hander Matt Hardy suffered his first loss of the year, dropping to 3-1 overall, despite striking out a career-high nine batters in six innings on the mound.

With a lead-off single to open the ball game, Jancarlos Cintron extended his current hit streak to 19 games to begin the season.

NSU will look to salvage the series in the weekend finale Saturday at 1 p.m. ET. For complete coverage of the action, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.