FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Under the guidance of ninth-year head coach
Greg Brown, the No. 18 Nova Southeastern baseball squad embarks on its 17th NCAA Division II season this weekend, kicking off the 2019 season with Tusculum and Catawba coming to the NSU Baseball Complex on back-to-back dates, Feb. 1-2.
ON THE SCHEDULE:
Friday, February 1, 6:00 p.m.: No. 18 NSU Sharks (0-0) vs. Tusculum Pioneers (0-0)
Location: NSU Baseball Complex, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Watch Live: Live stats |
SSC Digital Network
Saturday, February 2, 12:00 p.m.: No. 18 NSU Sharks (0-0) vs. Catawba Indians (0-0)
Location: NSU Baseball Complex, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Watch Live: Live stats |
SSC Digital Network
ABOUT THE SHARKS
Picked preseason at No. 4 in the South Region, the Sharks closed last season at 35-16 in second place among the Sunshine State Conference Standings, ending the year in their fourth consecutive NCAA Regional. Ranked as high as 18th in the preseason polls, Nova Southeastern has fully reloaded from the loss of 18 players from a year ago, which included MLB Draft selections
Jake Anchia,
Devin Conn and
Joe Strzelecki, as well as seniors
Andrew Liberty and
Dylan Harris (who also signed with Cincinnati).
The Sharks return 14 pitchers with experience to the pitching staff, including right-handed relievers
Ryan Maya (2-2, 2.25 ERA, 32 SO),
Nik Sanders (3-0, 2.53 ERA, 28 SO),
Kyle Kilbourne (0-2, 2.76 ERA, 21 SO) and Gilberto Torres (0-0, 5.27 ERA). Perfect game NCAA DII Top Prospect-lister
Brock Minich returns after tossing 6.2 innings for the Sharks in 2018, drawing attention in 20 innings with the Coastal Plain League's Forest City Owls. NSU will also look for big innings from returning right-hander
Jarret Krzyzanowski and newcomers LHP
Matt Ornelas, RHP
Matthew Sellers, LHP
Nathan Campbell and RHP
JP Williams.
At the plate, Preseason All-American outfielder
Samuel Duran paces the NSU returning batsmen after hitting .384 with 33 RBI and 44 runs. Outfielders
Nathan Chevalier (.312, 26 RBI, 31 runs) and
Christian Demby (.302, 23 RBI, 16 runs) are back, as well as second baseman
Andrew Labosky (.302, 16 RBI, 22 runs) and third baseman
Ian Acevedo (.297, 31 RBI, 37 runs). Newcomers will also play a big role, with transfers
Brandon Chinea (SS, Tennessee) and
Garrett Wolforth (C/1B, Dallas Baptist) highlighting the newest position players.
ABOUT TUSCULUM
The first opponent of the season, the Tusculum Pioneers went 25-27 last year coming out of the South Atlantic Conference and reached the conference tournament final in 2018. The Pioneers are just one year off near-perennial 30-win seasons and open their season anew under coach Brandon Steele at Barry in Miami Shores at 1:00 p.m. TU will make a rare multi-team, multi-site doubleheader and head to Fort Lauderdale for the 6:00 p.m. Friday matchup with the Sharks. All-American second baseman Daulton Martin headlines the Pioneers' returners after leading the SAC with a .413 average and is batting .395 career. He'll be aided by power-hitting senior outfielder Jarel McDade, who hit .326 with 10 homers with team highs of 45 RBI and 56 runs. TU returns its top five hitters off a club batting .296 a year ago. TU dropped a 12-2 affair last year at NSU.
Live stats for the opener with the Pioneers will be available through
www.NSUSharks.com and the game will be broadcast live on the
SSC Digital Network.
ABOUT CATAWBA
The Sharks hit the diamond again in short order, returning Saturday at 12:00 p.m. to face Catawba. Coming off a 30-24 campaign, the 2018 regular season SAC Champion Indians were ranked when they opened up last year as NSU's first opponent – an 8-5 Sharks win. The Indians will face Lynn on Friday and head to NSU with big expectations for Preseason All-Americans shortstop Jeremy Simpson (.317 in 2017) and transfer outfielder Bryce Butler (.408 as an NJCAA All-American at Kankakee CC). In addition, Catawba retains the services of All-Southeast Region first-teamer Heath Mitchem, senior designated hitter, who batted .370 with 42 runs and 29 RBI last season. Junior third baseman Jackson Raper has proven a hitter, hitting .356 with 22 doubles and nine homers a year ago, batting in 47 runs and scoring 47 times.
Live stats for the matchup with the Indians will be available through
www.NSUSharks.com and the game will be broadcast live on the
SSC Digital Network.
UP NEXT
After consecutive games this weekend, the Sharks will open conference play early, hosting Sunshine State Conference foe Barry in a three-game series, Feb. 7-9 at the NSU Baseball Complex
