LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
The Nova Southeastern baseball doubleheader Thursday against Rollins has been suspended due to inclement weather. Play was halted in the first game, with the Tars leading, 2-1, with one out in the bottom of the third inning. The game will conclude on Friday at 12:30 p.m., with the second game scheduled for no earlier than 4 p.m. The final game of the regular season will now be played on Saturday at 10 a.m.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team (31-12, 11-9 SSC) will finish its regular-season schedule with a three-game series against the Rollins Tars (27-20, 8-13 SSC) at the NSU Baseball Complex. The series will begin with a doubleheader Thursday at 4 p.m. and will conclude Friday with a single game at 4 p.m.
The Sharks will take the field for their last series of the season after being swept for the first time on the road against No. 1 Tampa last weekend. It was one of the worst series in recent memory, as the Sharks were outscored 42-10 over three games.
The fallout from the series has been dramatic by some, as the team was dropped from the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper coaches poll after being ranked ninth last week. Although the national poll is a barometer for where some coaches believe the Sharks stand among the nation’s elite, it has no effect on the Sharks’ postseason eligibility. The NCAA South Region poll is the determining factor for which teams will make the NCAA South Regional Championship.
In the latest regional poll, the Sharks only dropped from third place to fourth, right behind top-ranked Tampa, second-place Delta State and third-ranked Lynn. Behind the Sharks in fifth place is Alabama-Huntsville, a team that has 10 more regional losses. In sixth and seventh place are West Florida and North Alabama, respectively. Tampa, Delta State and Stillman have automatically qualified for the postseason, with the teams ranked from third-to-seventh receiving at-large bids to fill out the field.
Although the gap between fourth and fifth place is large, the Sharks will need to protect their record over the last three games in order to ensure their spot in the postseason. On paper, Rollins does not have much to play for as they are cemented in seventh place in the SSC standings regardless of the series outcome. However, Rollins has proven to be a dangerous team, with wins over Florida Tech, Tampa and Lynn. The Tars have been a tough out and have only been swept by Florida Southern.
The series will serve as the final home games for several NSU seniors. In between the doubleheader Thursday, NSU will honor seniors:
Nikko Echevarria (Abqaib, Saudi Arabia),
Mauricio Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.),
Ray Navarro (Miami, Fla.),
Sean Tighe (Hobe Sound, Fla.),
Javi Sujo (Miami, Fla.),
Scott Woodrey (Lighthouse Point, Fla.),
Areo Regoli (Homestead, Fla.),
Daniel Petitbon (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and
Kellen St. Luce (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands).
Although the series will end Friday, the most important event of the weekend will come Sunday night at 10 p.m. At that time, fans can log on to NCAA.com to find out if the Sharks will be selected to compete at the NCAA South Regional Championship. The seedings and host site will be announced for all eight regions in NCAA Division-II.
Fans can follow the Sharks via live video
HERE and live stats
HERE. Follow the Sharks on Twitter at
www.Twitter.com/NSU_Baseball.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit
www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by
clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by
clicking here.
