FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team (3-0, 1-0 SSC) rallied late to pick up their first Sunshine State Conference victory of the year, defeating Barry (1-2, 0-1 SSC), 5-4, on the strength of huge eighth-inning swings by Garrett Wolforth and Christian Demby that accounted for four crucial runs.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern – 5, Barry – 4
Records: Barry (1-2, 0-1 SSC), Nova Southeastern (3-0, 1-0 SSC)
Location: NSU Baseball Complex | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
Rising to the challenge of a 4-1 deficit in the eighth inning of Thursday's SSC opener, Sharks catcher Wolforth leaned into a 2-out, 0-1 Pablo Arevalo pitch, belting a lined home run shot beyond the right field fence to invigorate an NSU offense that had produced only three hits through the first seven frames. After Ian Acevedo reached on a single, designated hitter Demby made the opportunity count with a no-doubt sky-high home run well over the left field fence for two runs and the 5-4 NSU advantage
 
The Sharks fell behind early, as a pair of miscues led to a pair of unearned Barry runs in the opening stanza. Battling back from the first, starter Matt Ornelas stood strong and held down the Buccaneers across the next five innings, striking out seven in the process.
 
The pitching effort from Barry also kept the scoring down, as starter Frank Gonzalez II went 6.1 innings with just one run and three hits allowed, striking out six Sharks.
 
Although Barry's Justin Lamazares took the run back for Barry with Ornelas out of the game, logging an RBI single into the six-hole in the top of the seventh, the Sharks' bullpen stepped in and kept the game within striking distance – Cameron Schmidt and Joe Smeton saw the mound before Brock Minich entered in the ninth to shut the door and earn his first save of the year. Smeton (1-0) earned the win, allowing the Bucs nothing in his eighth-inning appearance.

STATS OF THE GAME:

• His fourth career home run at NSU, Demby's two-run game-winning home run was his first this season
• Wolforth also hit his first home run of the season – his first in Sharks uniform.
• This was the first game of 2019 that didn't see double-digit runs.
• Throwing 1.0 innings, Smeton earned his first win for NSU.
• Making his 11th career appearance, Minich collected his first career save.
• The NSU starter, Ornelas went 6.1 innings with six hits, one earned run and seven strikeouts.
• Six Sharks collected a hit on the night.
• NSU starts the year at 3-0 for the sixth time under Brown and a 1-0 start in SSC play for the fifth consecutive year (eighth under Brown overall).

FROM COACH GREG BROWN:

• "I thought Matty Ornelas did a fantastic job of keeping us in the game," Brown said. "Our bullpen did a great job of damage control. Getting those two swings by Garrett and Demby in the eighth was huge and then seeing the way Brock pitched the ball. Not how you draw it up going into it, but I thought the kids played awesome."

NEXT:
The Sharks continue the Sunshine State Conference-opening series with the Bucs, facing Barry again in game two on Friday at 6:00 p.m. at the NSU Baseball Complex. For complete coverage of the action, follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_Baseball or visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com.