FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern will its way to a three-game sweep of the Tampa Spartans the last time both clubs met in Fort Lauderdale, Florida back in 2015. Fast forward two years, and the roles were reversed as the Sharks dropped 6-0 and 12-8 decisions on Saturday to put an even bigger damper on a tough week for the nation's seventh-ranked club.
Game One
Limited to just one run over the final six innings Friday, the Nova Southeastern offensive rut continued in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. The Sharks mustered together just eight hits – all singles – en route to its first shutout since 2014.
Second baseman Jancarlos Cintron etched his name into the Nova Southeastern record books by extending his hit streak to a program-best 24 games. Outside of his 3-for-4 effort, though, Jeremy Vasquez was the only Shark player in the lineup in game one to record more than one hit.
Nova Southeastern southpaw Jonny Ortiz surrendered just one unearned run in relief of Devin Meyer. However, Ortiz's performance was overshadowed as the day belonged to Tampa starter David LeBron. The junior kept the Sharks off balance throughout, tallying eight strikeouts in eight scoreless frames without issue a single walk.
The Spartans didn't waste much time gaining control in game two of the series. After a two-run first inning, Tampa standout J.D. Osborne blew the ball game open with a three-run blast in the second before the visitors eventually tacked on one more in the ninth.
Game Two
Looking to salvage the series with a victory in the finale, the Sharks didn't do themselves any favors in Saturday's second contest either.
Similar to game one, Tampa set the tone in the top of the first thanks to a solo shot off the bat of Osborne. The Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year candidate gave the Nova Southeastern pitching staff fits all day, finishing the afternoon with a combined seven runs batted in.
The Spartans' cushion grew to 4-0 in the second before it eventually ballooned to 8-2 in the fourth following a bases-clearing double by Vic Cosenzo.
Sparked by the bottom half of the batting order, however, the Sharks managed to chip away at Tampa's lead. Back-to-back RBI's from Andrew Liberty and Michael Hernandez closed the gap to 8-4 in the home half of the fourth. Three batters later, Dylan Woods would continue the surge with a run-scoring groundout immediately followed by an RBI-base knock by slugger Brandon Gomez.
Nova Southeastern trimmed the deficit further in the ensuing frame, making the score just 8-7 in favor of the Spartans. The comeback attempt just appeared to wake Tampa up a bit, though, as the Spartans flipped that one-run margin instantly back into a four-run edge in the top of the sixth.
Gomez would add another RBI in the eighth on a sacrifice fly, but the effort proved to be too little too late as the Sharks have now dropped to 16-10 overall and 5-4 in the league following their fourth straight setback.
Despite the defeat, Sebastian Diaz and Kevin Suarez each registered three hits apiece. Suarez added three stolen bases in the process, gaining sole possession of the SSC stolen base lead now with 16 on the season.
NSU will take Monday off before returning to the diamond on Tuesday for the second of two ball games this year with Flagler. For complete coverage, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.
