Sharks were Dominant in all facets Saturday, outscoring the Eagles 13-2
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern Sharks baseball team produced a dominant day on the diamond, Saturday at No. 13 Embry-Riddle, producing timely runs to complement stout defense in both games of the doubleheader at Sliwa Stadium to garner 4-2 and 9-0 victories. For the second straight week, the Sharks rallied from a series-opening loss to win the Sunshine State Conference series and are now 4-2 in league play and sharing the top of the standings.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Game 1 Final Score: Nova Southeastern – 4, Embry-Riddle – 2
Game 2 Final Score: Nova Southeastern – 9, Embry-Riddle – 0
Records: Nova Southeastern (8-9, 4-2 SSC), No. 13 Embry-Riddle (11-5, 3-3 SSC)
Location: Sliwa Stadium, Daytona Beach, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME 1:
The opener of the doubleheader look simply like an extension of Friday night’s pitcher’s duel between the Sharks and the Eagles – except with Brady Acker (NSU) and Payton Rice (ERAU) taking up pitching duties. Both sides keeping the frames blank through the first five innings, Acker allowed a hit per inning through the first three, but stranded three ERAU baserunners – going on to six consecutive outs in the fourth and fifth.
As opposed to the opener, in which the Sharks were dealt their first shutout of the season, NSU’s offense came to life in a major way during the sixth to snap a 14-inning scoreless streak and take firm command of the game. Third baseman Duncan Pastore kicked the Sharks into gear with an outfield speeder that slipped under the glove of center fielder Kyle Guttveg, allowing him to reach third on the play and drive a walked Nathan Chevalier across the dish. More Immediate payoff came from the miscue, as Tyler Epstein followed with a high looped RBI single into shallow right field to bring Pastore home. Adan Fernandez completed the trio of Shark runs, connecting on a solid RBI double into the right center alley for the 3-0 advantage.
In the home half, Guttveg started the rally to make up for the error, leading off with a left-line single, reaching third on the same shot by Mike Lawson. The Eagles put the run on the board with a Luis Olivier sacrifice fly, but catcher Olivier Mayrand picked Lawson stealing and Lucas Reid induced a rally-killing groundout in relief to close of the sixth.
Epstein opened up the eighth with a leadoff double and Andrew Labosky cashed him in, reaching base with the RBI on an error by the Eagles’ first baseman – extending the lead back out to three runs.
Once again, the Eagles made a push in response, helped along by three eighth-inning errors by the Sharks – breaking up their second-straight clean defensive performance. After Guttveg reached on an error, Olivier brought him in on an RBI single to left center – sending the Sharks to the bullpen for freshman left-hander Matt Kavanaugh. With the bases loaded, NSU collected two consecutive flyouts, closed on the biggest catch of the game – Michael Uz grab at the knees in right field to strand three Eagles.
Kavanaugh allowed a ninth-inning runner, but snagged a groundout, a strikeout and Chevalier’s diving grab in left center clinched the win and Kavanaugh’s second save. Acker (2-0) earned the win on a season-high 5.2 innings, scattering seven hits and striking out four with no walks. Payton Rice (2-1) took the Eagles loss on 5.0 innings, with three runs on six hits. Kavanaugh tossed the final 1.2 innings for NSU in the save.
Epstein led all Sharks hitters with a 3-for-4 batting performance, scoring twice with an RBI. Mayrand also went 2-for-3 in the first segment of the doubleheader.
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME 2:
Unlike the rest of the series, the Sharks came out ready to roll on offense in the second game of the day, opening up the scoring on a first-inning Brandon Chinea sacrifice fly to score Pastore. NSU followed up in the second with an additional sacrifice, Uz plating Alex Hernandez in from second after a leadoff double. The Sharks looked poised to do it again in the third, but the Eagles went to the bullpen for John Barone to retire starter Kelsey Ward – Barone bailing out ERAU despite a four-pitch walk, securing two straight outs with bases loaded.
After Adan Fernandez was hit by a pitch and Labosky singled to get things started in the fifth, the Sharks got back on the board courtesy of a Ray Sanchez two-run double hot shot pulled down the first base line. Back-to-back doubles by Chevalier and Pastore in the sixth provided a five-run advantage and plenty of run support.
However, the rookie on the bump, freshman Cooper Omans hardly needed the help in his second start. Commanding his fastball from both sides of the plate, the left-handed Oviedo native faced 15 batters on Saturday before finally surrendering his first hit on Robert Post’s fifth-inning single that chipped off the bag at third. Earning the victory, Omans (2-0) went 6.0 innings of shutout action with just two hits and two walks allowed.
Compounding that for the Eagles, the Sharks offense kicked back into action late, Uz scoring on an eighth-inning Epstein RBI groundout, then an RBI triple-single-triple sequence in the ninth for Hernandez, Uz and Chevalier to put the game beyond reach at 9-0.
Jarrett Bond took over for two innings on the bump, helping the Sharks to work out a pair of double plays, while Jarret Krzyzanowski handled the ninth with three consecutive strikeouts. Taking the loss for the Eagles, Kelsey Ward (2-2) went 2.1 innings with two runs on three hits and two walks.
Chevalier went 3-for-5 with a run and an RBI, while Labosky was 2-for-3 with a run and Uz was 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. Hernandez added a 2-for-5 performance with one RBI and two runs.
STATS OF THE DAY
- With a streak-snapping loss to the Eagles on Friday, the Sharks have now won 14 of the last 15 against Embry-Riddle.
- Omans made his second start with also his second win, extending his season high from five to six innings and doubling his season strikeouts count with five against the Eagles.
- Acker registered a season-long appearance at 5.2 innings in the first game, coming just one strikeout shy of his season-high strikeouts at four against the Eagles.
- Eight NSU starters collected a hit in the second game against the Eagles, 14-of-18 on the doubleheader.
- Every member of the order reached base in the series finale.
- With five in the finale, the Sharks recorded the second most doubles on the season – only beat out by the opener against North Greenville on Jan. 31.
- Fernandez extended his team-high hitting streak to 13 games before it was snapped in the finale – His team-leading reached base streak remains at 17 games after being hit by a pitch in game two Saturday.
- Labosky’s reached base streak ended at 16, extending to the NCAA Regional final last season.
- Now holding the team’s highest hitting streak, Tyler Epstein has reached on a hit in 11 consecutive appearances.
- Alex Hernandez’ ninth-inning triple was the first of his career.
- Epstein’s 3-for-4 in the first game marked a season high and the fifth multi-hit performance of his rookie season.
- Chevalier’s 3-for-5 hitting in the final game was his first multi-hit game of the year – It was also a career-first multi-hitter for Uz.
- At 2-for-3 in the finale, Labosky notched his fourth multi-hit game of the year.
- The Sharks extend their stolen base count to 46 on the year and rank third in the nation at the stat.
- Ranking fifth in the NCAA and holding 15 double plays, the Sharks added two more to the cumulative, with one in the eighth and in the ninth of the finale.
FROM HEAD COACH LAZ GUTIERREZ
“Boys played hard. We lost a tough one last night, but it didn’t deter them from coming out today playing our brand of baseball. It was really fun to see. Brady and Cooper did an amazing job giving our team a chance to win both games. Offensively, we grinded out ABs that consistently put us in favorable counts and defensively we made all the routine plays.”
UP NEXT
The Sharks remain on the road trip and head to Pensacola for a two-game in-Region set at Gulf South Conference foe West Florida, beginning Monday at 6:00 p.m.
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