FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Starting pitcher
Devin Conn made quite the first impression in his Nova Southeastern debut on Thursday night. The right-hander racked up 13 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings, while
Brendan Cutting launched a three-run homer, as No. 12 Nova Southeastern opened the 2018 regular season with an impressive 8-5 win over No. 15 Catawba. Conn recorded multiple punch-outs in five of his seven innings on the bump, and exited with the Sharks holding onto an 8-0 cushion, before
Michael Gizzi slammed the door shut on the first of two meetings this weekend between both clubs.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: No. 12 Nova Southeastern 8, No. 15 Catawba 5
Records: Nova Southeastern (1-0), Catawba (0-1)
Location: NSU Baseball Complex | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
Nerves didn't prove to be a factor for Conn in his first start for the Sharks. The transfer from Middle Tennessee State set the first six Catawba batters down in order, and was soon given a 1-0 lead to work with after freshman
Bryan Diaz drove in
Ian Acevedo on a RBI groundout in the bottom of the second.
Another perfect inning in the top of the third paved the way for the heart of the Nova Southeastern lineup in the home half of the inning. A two-out walk by
Dylan Harris and a
Jake Anchia hit-by-pitch set the table for Cutting, who after working the count full, sent the 3-2 offering from Riley Myers deep over the right field wall to extend the early advantage to 4-0.
Samuel Duran tacked on another run for the Sharks with a two-out, RBI-single up the middle in the fourth. Conn would face a bit of trouble in the two ensuing frames, but escaped both times via strikeout, with his eighth of the night coming against 2017 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Luke Setzer.
Searching for more offense, Nova Southeastern found some when back-to-back doubles by
Andrew Labosky and Duran stretched the lead to 6-0. Four batters later,
Ian Acevedo picked up his first RBI as a member of NSU and was soon matched when
Christian Demby singled into left to score Duran from second.
A sloppy eighth for the Sharks that featured a walk, a hit batter and two errors, allowed the Indians to creep back into the ball game by scoring five runs. However, the rally arrived a bit too late, as Gizzi eventually struck out Catawba's Kyle Smith to seal win No. 1 on the season.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Conn's 13 strikeouts were the most by any NSU player since World Series Champion Mike Fiers did so back on Mar. 28, 2009.
- The 13 K's were also one shy of Fiers' NSU NCAA-Era record of 14 that same season.
- Six different players recorded at least one hit on Thursday.
- NSU has now won seven of its last eight regular season openers.
- Catawba used a total eight pitchers in the effort.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- Labosky reached base three times in his first career start batting lead-off.
- Harris finished 1-for-4 with two runs scored, and is now just 82 hits shy of breaking the all-time SSC hits mark.
UP NEXT:
NSU will return to the diamond on Friday for the second of four straight games when it faces Tusculum at 6 p.m. ET.. For complete coverage of the action, follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball or visit the
schedule page on NSUSharks.com.
