SAINT LEO, Fla. – It may have been the first game of
Dylan Harris' return to Saint Leo, facing his former team for the first time, but it was
Andrew Liberty who stole the show with déjà vu all over again, as No. 15 Nova Southeastern defeated the No. 22 Lions on Friday night, 10-6.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 10, Saint Leo 6
Records: Nova Southeastern (21-9, 13-3 SSC), Saint Leo (26-6, 9-4 SSC)
Location: Thomas B. Southard Stadium | Saint Leo, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
It was just over a year ago – March 25
th, to be exact – when
Andrew Liberty hit for the cycle for the first time in his career, and the first time for the program in 13 years, in a 16-5 Sharks victory to wrap up a three-game road sweep of Saint Leo. Much like that game, Liberty started with a double down the left field line, though this time he was left stranded.
The Sharks instead got the scoring started the next inning. With
Brendan Cutting on third after a double of his own,
Nathan Chevalier and
Jeffrey Cyr reached on consecutive two-out errors by the Lions defense.
Dylan Harris singled back up the middle to score them both and was followed
Nick Gallo's third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field to give the visitors an early 5-0 lead.
The Lions got one back in the bottom half of the inning on a leadoff homer by Zach Scott, then cut the lead to two with a two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning.
Liberty led off the fifth by completing the next phase of his cycle, a single up the middle. After a double by
Jake Anchia, Liberty came around to score on an RBI groundout by
Brendan Cutting, increasing the lead to 6-3.
Saint Leo, however, wasted no time in continuing their comeback. Scott homered for the second time with a runner on, and was followed immediately by Brent Coffel, going back-to-back to even the score at six.
After a scoreless sixth on both ends, Liberty once again led off the seventh, this time putting the Sharks up for good, with a home run to left-center field, his fourth of the season.
Meanwhile,
Ryan Maya relieved starter
Brady Acker after six innings, and after allowing a double to the first batter he faced, retired the next nine in order, including two big strikeouts to end the 7
th with the tying run waiting just 90 feet away.
Making the most of his opportunities as the first batter of the inning, Liberty completed the cycle in the exact same way as the last time the Sharks were visiting Saint Leo: with a 9
th-inning triple to right-center field. He scored on Anchia's second double of the night to add some insurance going into the final outs, and after a pitching change and a pair of strikeouts, the Sharks tacked on two more when
Samuel Duran doubled and Chevalier reached on another error.
Suddenly facing a four-run deficit instead of just one, the Lions had no chance against a dominant Maya, going down 1-2-3 to end the game.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- The Sharks tallied 14 hits as a team, including eight for extra-bases: five doubles, one triple and two home runs.
- Getting the start at DH, Brendan Cutting made it count with his second three-hit game of the season and the first since March 3 vs. Tampa.
- Liberty is the sixth different Shark with four or more hits in a game this season. Dylan Harris has three four-hit games, while Jake Anchia, Ian Acevedo, and Nathan Chevalier have one each and Andrew Labosky had a pair of five-hit games during the season's opening weekend.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Striking out five of the ten Lions hitters he faced, Maya earned a three-inning save, the first save of his career. He improved upon his already impressive numbers on the year, lowering his ERA from 0.73 to 0.65 and his opponent batting average from .156 to .150, with 26 strikeouts in 27.2 innings of work.
- After 257 career hits in his Lions career, Dylan Harris added two hits tonight for a team-high of 50 on the season in just 30 games. With 307 total, he's fourth all-time in SSC history, just two away from a tie for third, and just one away from entering Division II's all-time top 25. He also extended his team-longest hitting and on-base streaks to 14 and 18 games, respectively.
- With nine wins in a row in SSC play, the Sharks have their longest conference win streak since they won 11 straight from March 19-April 29 of 2016, including consecutive sweeps of Saint Leo, Barry and Rollins, en route to the first National Championship in program history.
- They also extended their streak in the series history with Saint Leo to 13 consecutive wins, having swept the Lions each of the last four years dating back to 2014.
UP NEXT:
The Sharks continue the series on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. For complete coverage of the action, follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball or visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com.
