BOCA RATON, Fla. – No. 1 Nova Southeastern earned its second Sunshine State Conference road series win in as many weeks Saturday, beating No. 19 Lynn 16-7 in game one of the doubleheader before falling 10-6 in the finale. The series victory marks the first over the Fighting Knights since 2012 as the Sharks now improve to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the league.
Jancarlos Cintron and Kevin Suarez each homered on the day for the SSC's most potent offense, while starting pitcher Matt Hardy lowered his season earned run average to 1.71 on his way to picking up his third win of the year.
Game One – NSU 16, LU 7
All nine starters recorded at least one hit and scored at least one run as the Sharks mashed out a season-high 21 base knocks in game one Saturday.
First baseman Jeremy Vasquez followed up Friday's 3-for-3 effort by collecting four hits to go along with three apiece from Brendan Cutting, Suarez and Dylan Woods.
Already ahead 1-0 in the third inning, the Sharks reeled off four runs with two outs to grasp control of the ball game. Jake Anchia ignited the rally with a RBI-single into left before Cutting and Sebastian Diaz extended the lead to 5-0 with consecutive run-scoring hits of their own.
After the Sharks added three more runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth, Cintron tagged his third dinger of the season in the seventh to put Nova Southeastern comfortably ahead 11-4.
Lynn would narrow the gap with a three-run eighth inning, but Suarez provided the dagger with a grand slam to deep right center in the ninth to sew up the 'W'. The Sharks' centerfielder finished with a team-high combined seven RBI's on the afternoon.
Hardy moved to 3-0 on the year following his second consecutive quality outing. The right-hander tallied a season-high seven strikeouts in seven innings of work, surrendering just one earned run.
Game Two – LU 10, NSU 6
The Sharks offense didn't slow at the start of game two, either, as Brandon Gomez quickly put the team on the board in the top of the first with an RBI-single through the left side. Nova Southeastern would later continue the momentum, scoring in each of the first four innings to claim an early 5-1 cushion.
While the offense built the lead, southpaw starting pitcher Joe DiBenedetto racked up the strikeouts on the mound by punching out eight Lynn batters throughout the first four innings. However, the senior ran into some trouble in the fifth after the Knights opened the frame with back-to-back solo home runs. DiBenedetto would exit with the Sharks on the favorable end of a 5-4 edge, but wasn't able to remain in line for the win as Lynn struck for a total of six runs in the inning.
Keyed by a Chris Corbitt two-run shot, the Knights plated three more runs in the sixth to pull ahead 10-5. Nova Southeastern would get a run back in the seventh on a run-scoring double off the bat of Michael Hernandez, but ultimately didn't have enough in the tank to capture the sweep.
Despite the loss, Vasquez registered to more hits to raise his batting average to a league-best .509 in 15 starts this season.
In a quick turnaround, NSU will return to the diamond at home on Monday to face Notre Dame College in a non-conference meeting. For complete coverage, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.
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