FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Despite dropping the series opener on Friday evening, the Nova Southeastern softball team bounced back on Saturday afternoon, picking up two come-from-behind wins over the Embry-Riddle Eagles at the AD Griffin Sports Complex. The Sharks overcame a 3-0 deficit in the first game, using a six-run sixth inning to earn a 9-3 win before a six-run bottom of the seventh in the second game gave the home team an 8-7 walk-off win.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP (GAME ONE):
FINAL: Nova Southeastern Sharks 9 (W: L. Storrer, 6-6), Embry-Riddle Eagles 3 (L: L. Hop, 6-3)
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern (10-9, 3-2 SSC), Embry-Riddle (11-6, 4-1 SSC)
LOCATION: AD Griffin Sports Complex | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
FOLLOW US: @NSUSHARKS and @NSU_Softball on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube
HOW IT HAPPENED:
TOP 1ST | Unlike Friday evening's game, it took the Eagles no time to grab a 1-0 lead as a Katy Thompson RBI-double scored Mariana Pereira, who walked in the at bat prior.
TOP 4TH | With one out on the board, an error by the Sharks allowed Jamie Mead to reach, putting runners on the corners. After Mead stole second, a groundout by Lia Johnson allowed the runner at third to score before a single through the left side by Maggie Scott brought home Mead for the 3-0 advantage.
BOTTOM 6TH | The Sharks' bats came alive in the home half of the sixth, tallying all nine of their runs.
Suka Van Gurp used an error to reach and
Aubry Hernandez was hit by a pitch to put NSU in scoring position. A fielder's choice by
Miriam Schmoll loaded the bases before
Alex Suzuki and
Lexie Storrer took advantage of back-to-back bases-loaded walks to cut the deficit to one run, 3-2. After an ERAU pitching change,
Keeley Mayers single to right center, advancing all the way to third on an error committed by the right fielder, allowing all three base runners to score for a 5-3 Shark lead. A fielder's choice drawn by
Kayla Kight brought Mayers home to make it 6-3, and Kight was pushed to third on a sacrifice bunt by
Tia Williams.
Sydney Lageyre used the third walk of the inning to reach, before a three-run homer by Van Gurp tallied NSU's final runs of the game for their eventual winning score of 9-3.
INSIDE THE STATS:
- Van Gurp finished game one 3-for-4, tallying more than half of NSU's hits, with three RBI and scored twice.
- Lageyre was 1-for-3 and Mayers was 1-for-2, and they both scored once.
- Relief pitcher Lexie Storrer tossed the final 1.2 innings and earned the win, allowing no runs or hits. Schmoll started the first 5.1 innings in the circle, giving up three runs (1 ER) on six hits.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- This was NSU's fifth come-from-behind win of the season.
- This was Storrer's second win as a relief pitcher of the season.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP (GAME TWO):
FINAL: Nova Southeastern Sharks 8 (W: L. Storrer, 7-6), Embry-Riddle Eagles 7 (L: L. Hop, 6-4),
RECORDS: Nova Southeastern (11-9, 4-2 SSC), Embry-Riddle (11-7, 4-2 SSC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
TOP 1ST | Similar to game one, it was Embry-Riddle that struck first, taking a 2-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Savannah Brockenbrough and a fielder's choice drawn Meritxell Blesa.
BOTTOM 1ST | With one out on the board, Lageyre used her speed to make it to second off a hit to left center before stealing third. The next batter, Van Gurp, brought her home on a single to third, bringing ERAU's lead to just one run, 2-1.
TOP 3RD | The Eagles extended their lead to 4-1 with RBI-doubles by Brockenbrough and ReAnne Drayton before a double steal made it 5-1 in Embry-Riddle's favor.
TOP 4TH | With two outs and runners on the corners, Drayton singled to left field to bring ERAU's edge to five runs, 6-1.
BOTTOM 4TH | After Suzuki led the inning off with a walk and was advanced to second after an error by ERAU's shortstop on Storrer's at bat, putting two runners on base. The next batter, Mayers, brought home Suzuki to make it 6-2.
TOP 5TH | Embry-Riddle extended their lead to 7-2 in the top half of the fifth as Callie Rodriguez singled to left center to score Mead.
BOTTOM 7TH | With the bases loaded and no outs, Suzuki and Storrer once again took advantage of back-to-back walks, tallying two runs before a sacrifice fly by Mayers brought in another to gut the deficit to just two runs, 7-5. After Kight was hit by a pitch to load the bases once more, an RBI-single to center by Williams cut it to one, 7-6. The next batter, Lageyre, ended the game with a solid hit down the right-field line to bring home by Storrer and Kight for the walk-off 8-7 victory.
INSIDE THE STATS:
- Williams finished 2-for-3 with one RBI and Lageyre was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a scored run.
- Van Gurp was 2-for-4 and scored once while tallying an RBI and Suzuki was 1-for-2 with two walks, one RBI and one scored run.
- Despite the outcome, the Eagles outhit the Sharks 12-10.
- Storrer picked up her second win of the day after taking over to close out the last 5.0 innings. She allowed two runs (1 ER) on six hits with one strikeout.
- Erica Winter started in the circle, allowing five runs (3 ER) on six hits.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- This was Storrer's second win as a relief pitcher of the season.
- Today's two wins give the Sharks the series win over the Eagles, who were ranked first in the SSC standings coming into today.
- Also with today's wins, the Sharks have won their first two SSC series of 2019. The last season NSU won their first two conference series was back in 2010, as they opened league play with series wins over Tampa and Florida Tech.
UP NEXT
The Sharks will hit the road for their Spring Break trip, heading north to square off against Albany State and Columbus State on Tuesday, Mar. 5 and Wednesday Mar. 6, respectively.
SHARKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Follow along with live updates on Twitter by following @NSU_Softball.
