DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Following a nine-day layoff, Nova Southeastern returned to form in its Sunshine State Conference opener Friday night. Starting pitcher Devin Conn tossed seven effective innings, while both Jake Anchia and Andrew Liberty homered, as the Sharks snapped a three-game skid with a 10-5 victory on the road at Embry-Riddle. Head coach Greg Brown's club fell behind early, yet scored in five of the final six innings to knock off the Eagles for the seventh consecutive time since 2016.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 10, Embry-Riddle 5
Records: Nova Southeastern (4-4, 1-0 SSC), Embry-Riddle (6-3, 0-1 SSC)
Location: Sliwa Stadium | Daytona Beach, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
Following a pair of scoreless innings to open the ball game, the Eagles struck first in the bottom of the third after a ball hit up the middle took a tricky hop and kicked out of the reach of second baseman Andrew Labosky.

The Nova Southeastern offense would pick up Conn, though, and answered right back with two runs in the fourth to grab its first lead of the night. Anchia jumpstarted the rally with a single through the left side before coming around to score two batters later on an Ian Acevedo liner back up the middle. On the ensuing pitch, Acevedo would steal second and advance to third on errant throw by the Embry-Riddle catcher. Those 90 feet would prove key as Acevedo then crossed home in the next at-bat on a booted ball by the Eagles' third baseman.

The fourth-inning spark was just the beginning for the Nova Southeastern offense. After a quick, 1-2-3 frame for Conn on the mound, Liberty launched a two-run homer deep over the wall in left, his first of the season, to extend the advantage to 4-1 in favor of the Sharks.

Two innings later, Liberty added to his RBI total, this time driving in Nick Gallo on a triple down the right-field line. A Dylan Harris sacrifice fly then stretched the lead to 6-1 when Anchia connected on his team-leading fifth dinger on a ball hit to the deepest part of the park.

Hitless since the third inning, Embry-Riddle narrowed the gap to 7-2 on a lead-off, solo homer in the bottom of the seventh. However, Conn would limit the damage, and battle through the rest of the inning before turning the ball over to the bullpen.

Back-to-back hits in the eighth pushed three runs across for the Eagles. A key strikeout by Nik Sanders would put an end to the threat, though, with Joe Strzelecki eventually slamming the door shut with a six-pitch ninth to clinch the victory.

 STATS OF THE NIGHT:

• Seven different players recorded at least one hit for the Sharks, including two apiece from Acevedo, Anchia, Gallo and Liberty.
• Conn surrendered just five hits in his seven innings of work, allowing two earned runs while striking out five.
• The first four hitters in the Nova Southeastern order combined for eight of the team's nine RBI's.  

UP NEXT:
NSU and Embry-Riddle will square off in doubleheader action beginning at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday. For complete coverage of the action, follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball or visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com.