BOCA RATON, Fla. – Led by J.P. Williams’ complete game shutout in game one, the arms of Nova Southeastern Sharks baseball joined forces to stifle the Lynn Fighting Knights in both games of a Sunshine State Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, as the Sharks emerged victorious by scores of 2-0 and 3-1.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Game 1 Final Score: Nova Southeastern – 2, Lynn – 0
Game 2 Final Score: Nova Southeastern – 3, Lynn – 1
Records: Nova Southeastern (10-9, 8-9 SSC), Lynn (7-18, 6-14 SSC)
Location: Lynn Baseball Field, Boca Raton, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
Game 1
Though the Sharks left runners on third in each of the first two innings of the opening game, they were able to take advantage of a couple of Lynn mistakes in the third for their first run. It started with a leadoff walk issued to Alejandro Macario, who then stole second, advanced to third on an error, and scored on a wild pitch.
As it turned out, that would be all that J.P. Williams would need, as he spent much of his time on the mound letting the Fighting Knights know that he was not to be scored upon this afternoon. He coasted through four 1-2-3 innings in the first six bottom-halves, allowing just one hit in the second and fourth. Adan Fernandez gave the team a little more breathing room, doubling the lead with a solo home run to left field in the top of the sixth, but Williams forced the Knights to strand three runners between the seventh and eighth, the last of them reaching third with just one out after a leadoff double. He gave Lynn no such hope in the ninth, making quick work of the heart of the order by retiring the side in order for the fifth time to finish off the nine-inning complete game shutout.
Game 2
In the second game, the Sharks jumped on the board immediately, with Andrew Labosky reaching on an infield single, then stealing second and scoring on an RBI single by Fernandez. NSU had a chance to strike big in the next frame, loading the bases with only one out, but were unable to bring anyone in.
Meanwhile, Brady Acker cruised through the first cycle of the Knights’ order, but began to run into trouble in his second time facing them. In the third inning, a pair of two-out baserunners were both in scoring position after a wild pitch, but he induced a ground to escape the jam. He was not quite so lucky in the fourth, allowing a one-out double and walk. A strikeout put him just one out away from another scoreless frame, but a grounder snuck onto the edge of the outfield grass, and the lead runner, being waved around third, slid just under Olivier Mayrand’s tag in a very close play at the plate. Another strikeout ended the inning, but now with the game tied at one apiece.
Not for long, though, as Fernandez, the second batter in the top of the fifth, broke the tie with his second solo homer to left field for the day. Closer Matt Kavanaugh then came in, tasked with holding that lead for the final three innings, and he started by working around a leadoff double just inside the chalk in left field. The offense gave him an insurance run when Stephen Schissler was hit by a pitch and stole the team’s sixth base of the day, then scored on a Tyler Epstein RBI single.
Kavanaugh went back to work, surviving a pair of misplays on the infield with an inning-ending double play in the sixth and a leadoff single in the seventh by inducing a pair of pop ups and a fly out to lock the door on the rare three-inning save and doubleheader road sweep.
STATS OF THE DAY
- J.P. Williams was electric en route to his first career complete game, and a shutout at that. He allowed just five hits and did not walk or hit a single batter, while matching his career high of eight strikeouts on 108 pitches. He lowered his ERA by a full run in the process, from 4.03 down to 2.87 in 31.1 innings, as well as his career mark from 3.27 to 2.95. He is nearing the century mark in both innings and strikeouts in his impressive Shark career, just 8.1 innings and one strikeout short.
- He threw the program’s first complete game of any length since Devin Meyer left it all out on the field against West Florida on May 17 at the 2019 South Regional Tournament. Also a nine-inning game, he allowed three runs (all earned) on nine hits with seven strikeouts to just one walk in a Herculean 136-pitch effort for the 5-3 win.
- It was also the first nine-inning complete game shutout since exactly five years and one day ago: on April 23, 2016, Julian Loret de Mola held Embry-Riddle to just five hits and two walks, while striking out nine batters in a 6-0 victory.
- The two teams combined for just nine hits in game one, the Sharks being slightly outhit, 5-4. They also were a collective 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position, with the Sharks coming up empty in their 10 such opportunities.
- Adam Smith had a pair of singles for the game’s sole multi-hit performance.
- In game two, Brady Acker allowed just one run on four hits in four innings for the victory, striking out five batters and walking just two. With back-to-back wins in one-run outings, he has lowered his ERA all the way from 5.68 down to 3.32 in 21.2 innings, and he now possesses a career record of 10-4 with a 3.62 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 117 innings across three seasons.
- Matt Kavanaugh allowed just three hits with one strikeout in three shutout innings for the save, his second on the season and fourth of his young career. After starting his career with a 13-inning scoreless streak, he has now run his current stretch up to 7.1 innings, with a 0.42 career ERA in 12 relief appearances totaling 21.1 innings.
- Andrew Labosky and Adan Fernandez both had two-hit games in the nightcap, and Fernandez also had three of the four RBI for the day.
- With the sweep, the Sharks, winners of nine of their last 12 games, are now over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019 season.
- They have also won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series with Lynn, including each of the last six road matchups.
- The pitching staff as a whole held Lynn to just seven runs on 26 hits in 32 innings in the four-game series, for a .220/.260/.314 team slash line. The Sharks had a team ERA of 1.97, striking out 30 Fighting Knights batters to only four walks, all the while allowing one of the SSC’s best power-hitting offenses just five doubles and two home runs. The sole run allowed today ended a 15-inning scoreless streak going back to the middle of Thursday’s nightcap.
- In the season series’ five games, the Sharks outscored Lynn 27-11, with a batting average advantage of .255 compared to .204.
UP NEXT
The Sharks will return to the NSU Baseball Complex on Wednesday for their matinee series opener against the Saint Leo Lions. First pitch is set for 3:00 P.M.
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