Tritons Fall to Sharks on Senior Day

SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. - After celebrating the jersey retirement of former Tritons' coach, John Mayotte, and celebrating 11 seniors for their final game at the Turley Athletic Complex, the Eckerd baseball dropped both games of the doubleheader Nova Southeastern, falling 9-3 in game one and 4-3 in 11 innings in the finale on Saturday afternoon.

In the first game, the Tritons were shutout 7-0 through five innings as Sharks' pitcher Cooper Omans threw four perfect innings. In the fifth, Tyler Young hit a two-run homer to left field to give the Tritons their first two runs of the day. Nova Southeastern added another run in the eighth before another Eckerd homerun by Tyler Cox brought the Tritons within five. An RBI single to centerfield in the ninth added an insurance run for the Sharks to close the game 9-3.

The Sharks struck first once again with two runs in the second for an early 2-0 lead in the finale. In the third, Peter Stavrakos singled through the left side to bring home Sam Boudreau to shorten the deficit to two. Senior, Michael Ballard, added two runs with a homerun to left field for the Tritons' first lead of the series. 

In the fifth, the Sharks regained their lead on a pair of unearned runs.

In the eighth, with the bases loaded, Nova Southeastern's pitcher Stephen Schissler failed to pick off Gunner Womer at first, with all three baserunners advancing on the error and Kyle Abbott's  scoring the tying run to send the game to extras. 

In the 11th inning, Schissler homered to right field for the 5-4 Sharks lead. Michael Uz tried to extend the lead for the Sharks with a sacrifice fly when Jake Fajardo made an incredible throw from centerfield to home to tag Ihosvany Castañeda out at home for the double play.

HOW IT ENDED 
Game One
FINAL: Nova Southeastern 9, Eckerd 3
WP: Omans (5-5)  LP: Stockman (2-5) S: Fernandez (4) HR: Noriega (3), Delgado (2), Young (1), Cox (5)

Game Two
FINAL: Nova Southeastern 5, Eckerd 4 (11 Inn.)
WP: Bond (2-0)  LP: Reynolds (0-2) S: Dill (5) HR: Schissler (6), Ballard (7)

RECORDS: Eckerd (20-26, 8-19 SSC), Nova Southeastern (24-22, 13-14 SSC)

NOTES AND NUMBERS 

• Young's homerun in game one was his first of the season. He went 3-for-4 in the opener. 
• Ballard's homerun was the 11th of his career. 
• The Tritons' bullpen combined for 10 strikeouts in the day's opener, Wil Stockman with five. Curtis Perry was close behind in the finale with four strikeouts. 
• Ballard and Young each had three hits and two RBIs on the day.
• Prior to game two of the doubleheader, the Tritons honored 11 seniors for their contributions to the program: Michael Ballard, Gil Colon, Payton McIntosh, Jacob Stipp, Weston Wiles, Joe Muzio, Jake Andriole, Sam Boudreau, Brendan Lawry, Gunner Womer, and Fletcher Reynolds. 

UP NEXT 
Eckerd will travel to Boca Raton, Florida, next weekend for their final series of the regular season against Lynn. Friday afternoon's game begins at 3:00 PM.