Mocs Lose Series to Sharks in Sunday Afternoon Finale

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College baseball team lost its series finale against Nova Southeastern University by a 5-2 score on Sunday afternoon at Henley Field.
 
The Mocs (14-25, 8-13 SSC) had an early solo run but went scoreless in five straight innings as NSU extended its lead. The Sharks (22-15, 12-9 SSC) had two innings with two runs to maintain their lead while keeping eight Moccasins on base in the game.
 
An early scoring start in the series finale as Nova Southeastern led off with back-to-back singles and two straight walks to bring a free run. A groundout added a second run before a flyout to end NSU's opening series. FSC responded with singles by Jevin Relaford and Chris McKenna which allowed a sacrifice fly by Nick Collins to send Relaford home for a 2-1 first-inning score.
 
In the top of the third, NSU added a solo run off an infield single that took an unfortunate bounce to send in a run and a 3-1 ballgame in the second. Neither team scored over the next four innings, with scattered FSC hits by Grady Maguire and Rohsean Riley.
 
The next runs of the game were from NSU in the top of the seventh as a lengthy inning had bases loaded with two free runs on walks. Mitchell LeRoy entered in relief of Logan Adams with bases loaded and finished the inning with a strikeout looking for a 5-1 NSU lead.
 
FSC responded with a single run in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI groundout by Bryce Benton to send Jaiden Warde home for a 5-2 game. LeRoy had a productive two innings with no hits and no runs while scattering three strikeouts to give FSC a chance for a rally. A deep shot by Maguire put him on second to lead off the ninth, though three straight outs ended the game with a 5-2 NSU win and sweep of the series.
 
Relaford led the team with hits (two) as El'Rico Riley extended his hitting streak to nine games. As a team, FSC had a slight edge in hits with seven, compared to six for NSU. The Sharks had two errors that amounted to a single run in the seventh by the Mocs. Adams had the loss and NSU's Carlos Nolasco the win, his second, and Michael Dillon his second save of the season. Benton, who had his first collegiate start, recorded his first RBI to highlight the Moccasins' day. 
 
The Mocs will travel to Daytona Beach next weekend for a three-day series against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University beginning Friday, April 26, set for a 6 p.m. start.
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