FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Nova Southeastern completed a Sunshine State Conference sweep of the Embry-Riddle baseball team on Saturday, beating the Eagles 12-4 in game one before walking off on ERAU in the finale, 7-6. The Eagles (3-7, 0-3 SSC) struggled bringing baserunners home all series, stranding a total of 33 on the bases in the three games. The Sharks (9-4, 5-1 SSC) exploded for eight runs early in the opener and then took advantage of an Eagle error in the finale for the one-run win.
The Eagles host Davenport on Monday, Feb. 25 at Sliwa Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Game 1 - NSU 12, ERAU 4
The Sharks strung together three hits while the ERAU defense committed two errors in the first inning, allowing NSU to go up 3-0 before
Zach Howard got the visitors on the board with a solo homer in the second. However, the Sharks chased a wild
Troy Naab from the game in the home-half of the second after he walked the bases full and
Garrett Goodall was greeted with a grand slam as the Sharks took an 8-1 lead and never looked back.
Embry-Riddle got a couple runs in the eighth via bases-loaded walks from
Garrett Capman and
Cody Forster, but a two-run NSU homer in the next half-inning stopped any momentum.
Joe Lucas collected an RBI single in the ninth to account for the 12-4 final.
Game 2 - NSU 7, ERAU 6
Embry-Riddle left 12 on the bases in the last game of the series, but still had a chance to beat the Sharks for the first time in 12 tries. The Eagles scored first with two runs in the second, but the hosts immediately answered, tagging
Daniel Agramont for a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame.
Kirk Sidwell plated
Luis Olivier from second in the visitor third with an RBI single and the lead held until the fourth when five hits led to four Shark runs and a 6-3 lead for NSU.
The Blue and Gold got a scoreless inning from
Samuel Brunnig in the fifth and the Eagles touched home twice in the sixth on a
Kyle Guttveg sac fly, plating Joshua Reynolds and an infield single from Olivier to score
Colin Ludwig, making it a 6-5 ballgame.
Embry-Riddle tied things up in the seventh when Guttveg drew a bases-loaded walk, but
John Devine grounded out to end the threat and leave the bags loaded.
Brunning tossed another scoreless inning in the seventh before
Dominic Jeancola took over with a man on in the eighth, getting out of the jam with a pair of Ks and Olivier's arm throwing out a would-be base stealer to end the inning.
ERAU couldn't score in the top of the ninth, and after a leadoff single from the Sharks in the last of the inning, a sacrifice bunt attempt for NSU was fielded and thrown down the right field line by Jeancola, allowing the winning run to score all the way from first for the 7-6 victory.
Sidwell finished 3-for-5 in the finale, while both Olivier and
Kyle Marsh collected two hits.
