FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Jeremy Vasquez shined the brightest in the biggest moments Friday night. The junior scored the game-tying run in the seventh following a lead-off triple, before launching the go-ahead homer in the bottom of the eighth to send the Sharks to a thrilling 9-8 win at home in the anticipated series opener against Florida Southern.
Both clubs entered the evening in the hunt for postseason bids with roughly two weeks remaining in the regular season, and Friday's atmosphere definitely had that sort of feel about it.
The Sharks jumped out to a 7-3 lead midway through the ball game, but the Moccasins managed to counter with two runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh to grab a slight 8-7 edge. Still, Nova Southeastern didn't panic, and leaned on its experience to gut-out a victory that'll go along way when the NCAA selection field is announced on May 14.
"That was a great team win," said head coach
Greg Brown, who has now beaten Florida Southern in 10 consecutive meetings at home. "We really utilized our bullpen well, and
Matt Hardy gave us a great start. Defensively we broke down, and they took advantage. Fortunately, we were able to overcome that. The way we played offensively was really good. We pitched it really well, and certainly ran the bases well. I'm proud of the way we competed."
Vasquez finished the night 3-for-4 (all extra-base hits) to go along with a pair of RBI's and four runs scored. His eighth inning blast not only put the Sharks in front for good, but perhaps even more notably was the fact that it came off Mocs' closer Cameron Hanes. Hanes previously had allowed just one earned run in 20.0 innings this season, and had surrendered only one other extra-base hit.
Starter
Matt Hardy's effort will be overshadowed following the late-inning drama. However, the righty had his stuff working against the Mocs, especially after the first inning. A two-out error prolonged the opening frame and eventually resulted in three unearned runs to stake Florida Southern to an early cushion. From there, though, the senior yielded just one other hit up until the sixth, and even sat down five of six batters batters via strikeout in the third and fourth innings.
A lead-off bomb off the bat of
Jancarlos Cintron kick-started the Nova Southeastern offense trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the first. After RBI's by Vasquez and
Sebastian Diaz even up the score later in the frame,
Brandon Gomez handed the Sharks their first lead of the contest following a two-out single in the third. That margin soon grew to 5-3, too, after
Michael Hernandez sent a 2-0 offering from Chase Pilato in the fourth inning over the wall in left center
Florida Southern would eventually rally in the seventh by sending nine men to the plate. A one-run deficit didn't slow the Sharks, though, as the offensive heroics and a scoreless ninth from closer
Josh Glick helped Nova Southeastern improve to 29-15, and 12-7 in the SSC.
NSU will look to carry over Friday's momentum when both teams return to the diamond for the first of two on Saturday at 1 p.m. For complete coverage throughout the afternoon, log onto
NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.
TWEETS OF THE NIGHT
