LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College baseball team ended their regular season schedule with a split doubleheader against the Nova Southeastern Sharks Monday afternoon at Henley Field. Nova Southeastern won the series 2-1 after a win last night, just the second dropped Sunshine State Conference series this year for the Mocs.
The Mocs (29-21, 20-10 SSC) were caught in a pitching duel in the first game of the doubleheader but were unable to tally runs in a 4-0 shutout. The Sharks (34-15, 17-13 SSC) had a 2-1 lead for most of game two, but
Seth Cannady smashed a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to give the Mocs a 5-2 win.
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 0, NOVA SOUTHEASTERN 4
A scoreless pitching matchup was the story for game one of the doubleheader.
Aric McAtee led the charge for the Mocs as he faced 28 batters in his seven innings of work. McAtee had three strikeouts, but only one walk to force 10 flyouts and seven groundouts. For the Sharks, Carlos Rey took the mound and had six strikeouts to keep the Mocs scoreless in his 7.2 innings of work and 28 batters.
Despite no score for most of the game, both teams had opportunities to score, each leaving seven runners on during the nine innings. The first chance for the Sharks came in the third when they had runners on first and third, but both were left on as McAtee kept it no score. The Mocs didn't get their first hit until the bottom of the fourth, when
Jeff Liquori hit a big double to right field. A walk for
Connor Berry had runners on first and second, but a double play groundout unable to score.
The first run of the game came with an RBI single by Irisarri of Nova Southeastern and a 1-0 score in the top of the sixth. Both pitchers continued their work to keep a close game until a three-run homer by Hernandez in the top of the ninth put a 4-0 deficit for the Mocs. Despite hits by Liquori and Berry, the Mocs were unable to tally any runs as they are shutout for the first time since May 3, 2019, a 99-game record.
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 5, NOVA SOUTHEASTERN 2
A quick-scoring game two doubleheader as the Sharks were fast to tally an RBI by Fernandez to go up 1-0.
Dawson Lane had pitching duties as he brought the Mocs to escape further damage for Sharks to leave one on. Florida Southern responded with a leadoff single by
Nathan Chevalier and
Nick Wells was hit by a pitch. Liquori hit a big RBI double to left field for Chevalier to score and tie the game in the first.
The next score came in the top of the third as Fernandez hit an RBI single to left-center for Epstein to score and Nova took the 2-1 lead in the third. Four scoreless innings for both teams before the Mocs tied the game in the seventh with a big RBI single by
Joe Raffaele to send DeSantolo home, who reached on a walk.
Mitchell LeRoy came in to relieve and did his part in two innings of work to keep the game tied 2-2 and just one hit.
A huge bottom of the eighth for the Mocs as
Duncan Hunter doubled to left field and DeSantolo walked to set up a two-on scenario with two outs.
Seth Cannady smashed a massive three-run homer to give the Mocs a 5-2 lead and their first lead of the game.
Ryan Langford entered for the save and did his part to keep the Sharks scoreless in the ninth and 5-2 Moccasin win.
UP NEXT
Completing the regular season, the Mocs will await their NCAA postseason fate with the Division II selection show this Sunday at 10 p.m. on NCAA.com
