No. 19 Sharks Score Late to Defeat Tritons

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Riding a lengthy conference winning streak, No. 19 Nova Southeastern had to mount an eighth-inning comeback to keep it alive on Friday night in their series opener with Eckerd.

The two teams traded the lead five times but a three-run eighth for the Sharks, aided by two Triton errors, proved to be the difference.

HOW IT ENDED
Final: #19 Nova Southeastern 7, Eckerd 5
Records: Eckerd 20-19 (10-12 SSC); NSU 27-10 (19-3 SSC)
WP: Maya (1-1)  LP: Iervolino (1-2)  Sv: Strzelecki (5)  HR: Liberty (6), Torres (8)

KEY MOMENTS

• Dylan Harris led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly by Nick Gallo for a 1-0 lead.
• The Tritons used four straight singles to open the third inning to set the stage for a two-run frame.  Chase Achuff's single - the last in the series of hits - drove in Justin Glover while Mitch Calandra followed with an RBI groundout to bring in Jake Romine.
• NSU responded in the bottom of the inning with two runs on an two-out single by Andrew Liberty putting the Sharks back ahead, 3-2.
• A two-out error on a line drive by Nick Conti allowed Eckerd to tie the game in the top of the fourth as Shane LeMaster came home from second.
• Liberty again put his team on top in the bottom of the seventh with a solo homerun to chase Triton starter Dillon McCollough.
• Bryan Torres answered with solo shot to lead off eighth to tie game once more. After a single and a two-base error put Justin Glover at third, Conti followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in pinch-runner Jamaal Chaney on a very close play at the plate.
• The Sharks took advantage of two Eckerd errors in the bottom of the eighth to put two runners on base, both of whom scored on a two-out single by Harris.  Harris later scored on a wild pitch to give NSU an insurance run.
• Eckerd put the tying run on base in the top of the ninth with one out, but Nova Southeastern closer Joe Strzelecki was able to retire the next two batters.

NOTES AND NUMBERS

• McCollough reached double-digits in strikeouts for the fourth time this season and pushed his season total to 93, seventh-most in program history in a single season.
• Nova Southeastern extended its SSC winning streak to 15 games.  The Sharks haven't lost in conference play since March 16.
• Achuff extended his hitting streak to 19 games with his RBI single in the third.
• Iervolino took a hard-luck loss in relief, giving up three unearned runs in the eighth.

UP NEXT
The two teams will complete the weekend series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 PM.