MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – A Sunshine State Conference record that had previously stood for 18 years officially fell on Thursday. Following a two-out single in the fourth inning,
Dylan Harris etched his name into the SSC history books as the league's new all-time hits leader, surpassing former Tampa Spartan Ronnie Merrill, Jr.'s previous mark of 339. Harris eventually finished the afternoon 3-for-5 at the plate, while
Christian Demby homered and
Nick Gallo added three RBI's, as No. 7 Nova Southeastern held on to defeat Barry 7-5 in the series opener in Miami Shores, Fla.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 7, Barry 5
Records: Nova Southeastern (33-13, 23-5 SSC), Barry (21-27, 8-20 SSC)
Location: Feinbloom Field | Miami Shores, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
Harris entered the afternoon two hits shy of becoming the new hit king in the SSC, and needed just four pitches to slice that mark in half, as the Sharks' lead-off man opened the ball game with a double into left field on Thursday. Gallo followed Harris with an RBI-single to give Nova Southeastern an instant 1-0 lead before a
Dominic Diana RBI-groundout doubled the margin right away in the top of the first.
After responding with a run in the bottom of the first, Barry scratched across three more in the third to grab its first lead of the ball game at 4-2.
The Sharks' two-run deficit didn't last for long, though. After drawing a one-out walk,
Nathan Chevalier advanced all the way to third on a failed pick-off attempt.
Jeffrey Cyr then made the Buccaneers pay for the miscue, scoring Chevalier on a line-drive single into left center. Harris' record-setting hit continued the rally when Gallo stepped to the dish and drove in two more to put Nova Southeastern back on top.
Clinging to a 6-5 edge in the eighth, the Sharks received some welcomed insurance off the bat of Demby, who lifted a 3-2 offering over the scoreboard in left for his third homer of the year
Barry didn't go down quietly, however, and loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth. Yet, facing a 2-2 count against Reuben Pino,
Michael Gizzi froze the Bucs' catcher with a breaking ball to thwart the chance of a comeback.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- Harris' three-hit day marked his 12th such performance of the season, and also extended his current hit streak to 30 games.
- Starting pitcher Devin Conn improved to 8-1 on the year, allowing two earned runs in five innings while striking out 10. With 10 more K's on Thursday, Con has now struck out double-digit batters in four of his last five outings.
- Samuel Duran continued his recent tear by going 3-for-4 at the plate in the win, and is now batting 0.583 (21-for-36) over his previous nine games.
UP NEXT:
NSU and Barry will face off in game two of the series Friday night 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.
