Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 15 Nova Southeastern baseball team (22-6, 8-4 SSC) won both games of Saturday's doubleheader against the Saint Leo Lions (16-11, 0-6 SSC) at the NSU Baseball Complex. The Sharks routed the visiting team 22-3 in the early game, before winning the final game of the series, 4-2, to earn the clean sweep over SLU.
Alvin Swoope (Fr., Port St. Lucie, Fla.) went a combined 6-for-8, with four RBI in the doubleheader Saturday. Swoope went 4-for-5, tallying all of his RBI in the first game of the day.
Alexander Fernandez (Jr., Davie, Fla.) had a career day going a combined 5-for-7, batting in four runners. Fernandez hit four doubles in a 4-for-5 performance in game one. The four doubles in a single game is the most by any player in the NCAA era for the NSU Sharks.
Kavan Thompson (So. Melbourne, Fla.) went 4-for-7 on the day, with a trio of RBI, while
Brooks Fleming (Sr., Palm City, Fla.) also had a three-RBI day, while going 2-for-5 in the doubleheader. Fleming gave up his body, getting hit by a pitch on three separate occasions.
Not to be outdone,
Andres Visbal (Fr., Miami) had himself a three-RBI performance in the doubleheader. Visbal went 2-for-6 on Saturday.
Julian Loret de Mola (Jr., Miami) (5-1) picked up the win for the Sharks in the first game, allowing three runs on seven hits in five innings of work.
Dillon Frye (2-2) was the winner in game two, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits in 5.1 innings on the bump.
In a game that was lopsided from the get-go, the Sharks recorded season highs in: runs scored (22), hits (22), RBI (21) and doubles (10).
NSU jumped on the Lions early, scoring six of their runs in the first three innings. The Sharks extended their lead and really put the game out of reach in the fourth, by putting eight more runs on the board to give themselves a comfortable fourteen run lead. NSU scored another three in the fifth, one in the sixth on an
Andrew Liberty (Fr., Boca Raton, Fla.) solo home run, and four more in the eighth to round out their scoring. The Sharks were blanked in just one inning, the seventh, in game one. SLU scored all three of their runs in the fifth.
Alexander Kline (So., Coral Springs, Fla.) had his longest outing on the mound this season, pitching two shutout frames, striking out one and giving up just three base hits.
Seth Natal (Jr., Oakland Park, Fla.) and
Drew Packard (Sr., Knoxville, Tennessee) finished out game one, both not allowing a hit in one inning of work.
The SLU bullpen was active in the first game, bringing in five relievers off the bench, none of which made it to three innings. The losing pitcher, Brent Krauss (3-1), went just 1.1 innings, allowing five runs on five hits.
The Sharks were hit by a pitch on six separate occasions in game one.
Game two turned out to be more competitive, but had a similar start. NSU scored two runs in the second inning, then two more on a Fleming two-RBI double down the left field line, in the third, to give the Sharks a 4-0 head start.
The Lions picked up a run in the fourth and the sixth, but it wasn't enough, as
Ronald Patella (So., Davie, Fla.) closed out the final inning and a third to record his fifth save of the season.
Liam O'Sullivan (2-3), the starter for SLU in the second game, gets the loss, allowing four runs, two earned, on four hits in 2.1 innings on the mound.
Despite the solid pitching performance from the Sharks staff in the second game, they failed to record a strikeout. Instead they forced 11 ground outs and 10 fly outs to the Lions.
The Sharks, who are now halfway through conference play, will take a week off from SSC competition and will travel to West Palm Beach, Fla. to take on the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish in a three-game series next weekend.
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.
