FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Right-hander
Matt Hardy tossed eight scoreless innings, while
Kevin Suarez and company provided just enough offense as No. 20 Nova Southeastern shut out Palm Beach Atlantic 4-0 in Friday's series opener at the NSU Baseball Complex.
Hardy's eight innings of work marked a new career-high to go along with seven strikeouts. The senior surrendered seven hits in the process, but allowed just two base runners to reach scoring positon past the second inning.
"The first game of the series is always the most important one," said Hardy following the victory. "Wins like this allow us to play loose and confident throughout the weekend.
"The defense really picked me up today. I was able to force a bunch of ground balls, and allowed the guys behind me to take care of the rest."
Jake Anchia led the offensive attack with a pair of hits and a pair of runs scored. Suarez added two runs batted in, with shortstop
Dylan Woods setting the table by reaching three times in his four plate appearances.
Together, Anchia and Suarez sparked the Sharks in the bottom of the first by staking Hardy to a quick 3-0 cushion immediately after escaping a jam in the top half of the inning. Following a pair of walks by Woods and
Brandon Gomez, Anchia laced a 2-2 pitch from Sailfish starter up the middle to open the scoring. In the ensuing at-bat, Suarez continued the two-out rally with a double to deep center that plated Gomez and Anchia standing up.
Palm Beach Atlantic showed flashes of an answer after two singles put runners on the corners with just one away in the top of the second. However, Hardy induced a weak grounder to
Jeremy Vasquez at first for the timely 3-6-1 double play to erase the threat. Nova Southeastern turned two double plays on the night, now giving head coach
Greg Brown's club a Sunshine State Conference-best 33 on the year.
Andrew Liberty's RBI-double to right center extended the Sharks' advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the third before Hardy handled the rest from there. The West Broward High School product fanned a pair of batters in the fourth and later struck out the side in the sixth, lowering his earned run average to 4.27 this season.
NSU will look to capture the series victory on Saturday when both teams return to the diamond for the first of two on the afternoon at 1 p.m. ET. For complete coverage the action, log onto
NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball.
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