FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern baseball team has officially announced the 2021 schedule for the 19th-ranked Sharks, which features 30 regular-season games against member institutions from the Sunshine State Conference, including 15 appearances at home. Fans will not be permitted to attend any of the Sharks’ contests this season, but all games will be available via stream on the SSC Digital Network.
The Sharks were picked fourth in the Preseason SSC Coaches Poll in advance of the the second year under head coach Laz Gutierrez. The Sharks return 30 players from a year ago, when NSU split at 11-11 before the season was ultimately cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. After a challenging start to a season that saw 14-of-22 games against ranked opponents, the Sharks had won both Sunshine State Conference series on the road – clinching victory in five of the final seven outings. With 367 days between games, the Sharks are hungry to get back onto the diamond and take teams from the perennially-strong SSC.
The conference structure of the season in SSC play will see a single game played during the week with a doubleheader on the weekend, at alternating sites.
The Sharks will open their 2021 season on the road in Miami Shores with a non-conference tilt at No. 6 Barry on Wednesday, March 10 with a 6:00 p.m. first pitch – the first of six times the clubs will meet this year. The Sharks took 2-of-3 from the Buccaneers last season in Miami Shores to win the series in February. NSU is back in action the following day with the home opener in a league contest against Florida Tech on Thursday, March 11, leading a Saturday, March 13 doubleheader in Melbourne.
The following week, NSU takes a non-conference meeting at Lynn on Wednesday, March 17 before heading to 27th-ranked Florida Southern in Lakeland on Thursday, March 18, then hosting the Mocs in a March 20 doubleheader. Barry will come to the NSU Baseball Complex for another non-conference outing on Wednesday, March 24, before the Sharks open their series at Palm Beach Atlantic on Thursday – heading home for the doubleheader with the Sailfish on March 27.
A third non-conference game with the Bucs is set for March 31st, keeping the Sharks warm for a matchup against top-ranked Tampa on the road, Thursday, April 1. NSU will get the doubleheader with the Spartans at home on Saturday, April 3. Following a six-day break, the Sharks host Rollins in a single Friday, April 9 SSC meeting, before heading to Winter Gardens to face the Tars the corresponding April 10 doubleheader.
On April 14, the Sharks will travel back to Lynn for a another midweek non-conference meeting, setting up the league series with Barry – a single game in Miami Shores on April 15, followed by the doubleheader in the confines of NSU’s campus on Saturday, April 17. The Sharks will meet Lynn in a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader at home on April 22, and again on April 24th in Boca Raton.
Nova Southeastern closes out its home conference slate on a single Saint Leo contest slated for Wednesday, April 28, and wrap up the regular season at Saint Leo with an April 30 doubleheader.
Due to changes made for the COVID-19 pandemic by the NCAA, the format to the postseason will look different, with NCAA Regionals being held at campus sites from May 20-22, followed by the College World Series’ return to Cary, N.C., June 5-12.
The Sharks were picked fourth in the Preseason SSC Coaches Poll in advance of the the second year under head coach Laz Gutierrez. The Sharks return 30 players from a year ago, when NSU split at 11-11 before the season was ultimately cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. After a challenging start to a season that saw 14-of-22 games against ranked opponents, the Sharks had won both Sunshine State Conference series on the road – clinching victory in five of the final seven outings.
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