MELBOURNE, FLA. – Florida Tech Baseball took the field this afternoon to open their third Sunshine State Conference series of the year. Due to inclement weather, the Panthers opened their series against Nova Southeastern with a doubleheader on Friday.
SSC PLAY – DOUBLEHEADER GAME ONE
Final: Florida Tech Panthers 0, Nova Southeastern Sharks 4
Records: Florida Tech (12-9, 3-4 SSC)
| Nova Southeastern (9-10, 2-5 SSC)
Location: Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field
| Melbourne, Florida
GAME NOTES:
- Game one of this afternoon's doubleheader started with eight straight batters retired by Jacob Pino.
- In the bottom of the second, Tech earned the first base runners of the game when Gabe Roque walked, and Brian Perez lined a ball through the 3-4 hole for the contest's first hit.
- The Sharks pushed across the first runs in the top of the third, but Pino picked off a base runner at first and punched out two batters to end the threat.
- Nova tacked on another run in the top of the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.
- While Pino worked to shut down Nova for three straight innings, the Tech bats were held to just a single hit through seven innings.
- After a shutout inning in relief from Jaxon Clampitt, Marcello Cortale attempted to give the Panthers new life with a lead off single in the bottom of the eighth.
- Unfortunately for Tech, they were unable to get on the board, and the scoreline remained 4-0 Nova entering the ninth inning.
- Clampitt shut down the Sharks once more and the Panthers earned base runners in Perez and Cortale, but Nova held on to take game one.
FINAL: Florida Tech Panthers 0, Nova Southeastern 4
SSC PLAY – DOUBLEHEADER GAME TWO
Final: Florida Tech Panthers 5, Nova Southeastern Sharks 6
Records: Florida Tech (12-10, 3-5 SSC)
| Nova Southeastern (10-10, 3-5 SSC)
Location: Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field
| Melbourne, Florida
GAME NOTES:
- In game two of the doubleheader, the Panther bats wasted no time as Adrian Domingue singled in the first inning.
- Hunter Stolov got the ball for game two and shut out the Sharks through the first three innings of his outing.
- Tech struck first in the bottom of the third using four straight hits to get on the board. Anthony Fiminao led off the inning with a single, followed by a William Rollings double. Both Panthers came around to score on base hits from Jeff Davis and Marshall Burke.
- The lead did not last long; in the very next inning, NSU hit a three-run home run to take a 3-2 lead.
- Stolov battled for the Panthers and kept the Sharks off the board for the next three innings.
- Marcello Cortale, Anthony Fimiano and Brian Perez all earned base knocks but were unable to reach home to tie the game.
- In the bottom of the seventh, Tech loaded the bases for Gabe Roque, who produced a clutch two-out single to tie the scoreline at 3-3.
- Blake Holshouser entered the game in relief and sat down every Shark he faced in a row in his first two innings of work.
- In the bottom of the seventh, Tech loaded the bases for Gabe Roque, who produced a clutch two-out single to tie the scoreline at 3-3.
- Holshouser continued to deal, striking out two Sharks and inducing two double plays to send this game to extra innings.
- In the top of the tenth, an error by the Tech outfielder put the lead off hitter for Nova on third base, 90ft from taking the lead. The Sharks earned another base runner and back-to-back wild pitches allowed both base runners to score for a 5-3 NSU lead.
- Needing to respond, Zade Stark led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch and Anthony Fimiano singled to put the tying run on base. BJ Graham cut the deficit in half by hitting a ground ball to score Stark and a wild pitch from the Nova pitcher allowed Fimiano to tie the game at 5-5.
- In the top of the eleventh, NSU scored again via a walk and two hits to retake the lead into the bottom half of the inning.
- Unfortunately for the Panthers, they were unable to respond and the Sharks took game two.
FINAL: Florida Tech Panthers 5, Nova Southeastern 6
NOTABLE PANTHERS:
UP NEXT: The Panthers and Sharks will return to the field in less than 24 hours for the final game of the series. Weather pending, first pitch of the series finale is scheduled for 1:00 PM on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to check Florida Tech Baseball social media or FloridaTechSports.com for updates.
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech Baseball, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
