FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The explosive Nova Southeastern offense was held scoreless for the final seven innings, while a costly miscue broke a 12
th-inning tie as the seventh-ranked Sharks stumbled to an 8-6 defeat against No. 9 Southern New Hampshire at home Wednesday night.
The Nova Southeastern bullpen rose to the challenge by limiting the Penmen to just three hits beyond the sixth inning. However, with two outs in the top of the 12
th, a wide throw to first base sailed towards the visitor dugout, allowing the go-ahead run as well as some insurance to score and send Southern New Hampshire to the eventual win.
Center fielder
Kevin Suarez carried the Nova Southeastern offense with a 3-for-5 performance at the plate to go along with a pair of RBI's and runs scored.
Michael Hernandez and
Andrew Liberty each added two hits apiece. The Sharks' top-five hitters in the lineup, though, combined to go just 3-for-26 in the loss.
In a back-and-forth ball game that featured four ties and four lead changes, Liberty gave the Sharks their first lead of the night in the home half of the third inning with an RBI-single into right that scored
Brendan Cutting from second.
The Penmen would reclaim a 4-3 edge, however, in the ensuing frame after shortstop Kyle Pangallo found a hole through the left side of the infield that plated two runs.
Still, Nova Southeastern countered back in the fifth when Suarez evened the score following his second RBI-base hit of the contest. The momentum sparked by Suarez continued two batters later when Hernandez then stroked a single into left to put the Sharks back on top. The one-run cushion soon doubled, too, thanks to a base-loaded walk drawn by
Sebastian Diaz.
Up 6-4, Nova Southeastern appeared to have seized control with some timely knocks and with a Southern New Hampshire bullpen perhaps wearing down. The Penman pitching stiffened, though, and Southern New Hampshire was able to reel off four unanswered runs to knock off the Sharks for just the second time at the NSU Baseball Complex this season.
Freshman
Bryce Van Horn tossed four innings, tallying two strikeouts while surrendering three earned runs in his first collegiate start in the effort.
NSU won't have much time to hang its head following the defeat as No. 3 Tampa heads to town for the start of a crucial three-game series Friday at 6 p.m. ET. For complete coverage of this weekend's action, log onto
NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.
