FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – To say Nova Southeastern has had considerable success against Saint Leo in the recent years may be an understatement. Winners of nine straight versus the Lions, the 21^st-ranked Sharks will look to continue their dominant run in the series when both teams open their three-game Sunshine State Conference set on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
 
Nova Southeastern's week-long road swing carries on following a notable 6-4 victory over Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's 24^th-ranked team in Flagler this past Tuesday. The Sharks entered the midweek matchup with losses in four straight ball games, but took a strong step back in the right direction thanks to complete efforts by both the offense and defense.
 
Jake Anchia, Andrew Liberty and Dylan Woods each launched solo homers in the win, while reliever Derik Beauprez shined out of the bullpen by striking out eight of the nine batters he faced in a perfect three-inning outing. Jancarlos Cintron broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the seventh with the go-ahead, RBI-single into left field before Anchia provided some breathing room with his sixth dinger of the season to lead-off the ninth inning. Closer Josh Glick then slammed the door shut to pick up save number three as Nova Southeastern earned the season sweep over a quality Saints club.
 
Sweeps have been the norm for head coach Greg Brown's team in each of the previous three seasons versus Saint Leo. Amidst their historic national championship run, the Sharks outscored the Lions by a combined 27-6 margin to take all three ball games at the NSU Baseball Complex in 2016. As a team, Nova Southeastern mashed six homers throughout the weekend, with each of its three starting pitchers allowing just one earned run apiece.
 
Although it has had its share of struggles versus the Sharks, Saint Leo will at least likely be pleased to not have to see Rollins again for quite some time. The Lions haven't faced another club since March 13, playing the Tars a whopping five times over that span. Despite dropping the finale, Saint Leo did however pick up wins in three of the five contests versus the Tars to improve to 14-11 on the year.
 
After sitting out the entire 2016 season due to injury, Saint Leo's Dylan Harris has failed to miss a beat thus far throughout the first 25 games of the year. The redshirt-junior currently ranks second in the SSC in both batting average (.447) and hits (51), while adding 11 stolen bases in 14 attempts. Alongside Harris, teammate Alex Mata has proven his run-scoring ability as the team's primary three-hole hitter. A Preseason First Team All-South Region selection by the NCBWA, Mata sits tied with NSU's Brandon Gomez for the for the second-most RBI's in the league with 34.
 
For complete coverage throughout the weekend, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.