FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – If Nova Southeastern had somehow been flying under the radar throughout the 2017 season, that certainly is no longer the case. The Sharks leaned on starter Derik Beauprez en route to a 7-2 victory in game one Saturday before Dylan Woods keyed an 18-hit attack in a 13-8 slugfest, as head coach Greg Brown and company completed an impressive series sweep of Florida Southern at home.
 
The pair of wins on Saturday extends Nova Southeastern's current streak to six in a row, now sitting at 31-15 and 14-7 in the Sunshine State Conference.
 
"This was a fantastic series for us," said Brown, who now has the Sharks on the verge of their third consecutive postseason berth with just one regular season series remaining. "Doubleheaders are tough. Our guys kept fighting throughout the day, though, against a really good Florida Southern club. This was a signature series win that'll continue to help get us to where we want to go. I'm looking forward to enjoying this one, but there's still more work to do."
 
GAME ONE
 
On the heels of a sharp, seven-inning outing just a week ago at Embry-Riddle, Beauprez was arguably even more impressive against the Moccasins on Saturday. The right-hander tossed seven scoreless frames, limiting Florida Southern to just two singles to go along with seven strikeouts. The Mocs went down in order in four of those seven innings, and had only one base runner reach scoring position against the junior after the second.
 
A momentous, four-run third inning didn't hurt either. A Kevin Suarez sacrifice fly to right opened the scoring when Jeremy Vasquez doubled the early cushion with an RBI-single down the line to plate Jancarlos Cintron. Just one batter later, Jake Anchia nearly sent the 1-1 pitch from Mocs' starter JJ Niekro into orbit with a two-run blast that didn't require any movement from the Florida Southern outfield.
 
With the Sharks comfortably in front 7-0 in the eighth, the Mocs erased the shutout with a pair of runs, but the offensive production came just a little too late.
 
Andrew Liberty's solo shot in the bottom of the fourth marked his ninth of the season. The Sharks' left fielder finished the dominant effort a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored, falling a triple shy of what would've marked his second cycle of the year.
 
GAME TWO
 
Unlike game one of the afternoon in which Nova Southeastern remained in complete control throughout, Florida Southern clawed its way to a 4-0 cushion midway through the ball game.
 
Sharks' starter Jonny Ortiz lasted just 4.2 innings, but did a nice job of damage control in the eventual no-decision. The Mocs tallied one run apiece in four consecutive innings, yet were never able to blow the ball game wide open when they had the opportunity.
 
Highlighted by a bases-clearing double off the bat of Anchia, Nova Southeastern knotted things up at 4-4 in the blink of an eye in the bottom of the fifth. Just as quickly as the Sharks had battled back, though, Florida Southern responded with four more runs of their own in the ensuing frame to reclaim an 8-4 edge.
As they showed on Friday and throughout most of the season, there proved to still be no panic in the Sharks' dugout despite the digging themselves into another hole. Sparked by the bottom of the order, Liberty and Michael Hernandez led off the home half of the sixth with a walk and a single into left. A failed bunt attempt put an out on the scoreboard, but Woods made the Nova Southeastern faithful quickly forget about that after launching a three-run homer to the opposite field to narrow the gap to 8-7.
 
Woods' eighth round-tripper was just the start of plenty more to come, though. Suarez drew a one-out walk to continue the rally before the Sharks reeled off four more runs on five hits - all with two outs. A run-scoring single by Anchia drew the Sharks even at 8-8. Brandon Gomez then reached on an infield hit to second when Sebastian Diaz took notes from Woods and connected on Nova Southeastern's second three-run homer in the inning to grasp their first lead at 11-8.
 
Woods continued the offensive explosion with his second long ball of the contest in the seventh, hit to nearly the exact same spot beyond the wall in left. The four-run margin soon grew to five following a Vasquez sac fly, finally giving the Sharks enough breathing room as Cameron Churchill and Josh Glick managed a combined three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to eventually seal the deal.
 
"The guys came out here and gave it their all this weekend," said Glick. "We went down early here in this last game, but we never let it bother us. We've faced bigger deficits before, it's impressive to see what we're able to do sometimes."
 
NSU will round out the regular season at home against Florida Tech, opening a three-game series with the Panthers next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. For complete coverage the action, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.