The Lions’ defense was one of the biggest reasons for the loss. saintleolions.com
No. 12 Saint Leo baseball was unable to hold off the visiting No. 20 Nova Southeastern Sharks Friday night at Thomas B. Southard Stadium. Finally, after a long win streak the Lions seem to be human once again. This was the first of a three-game series over the weekend.
Senior Jordan Pendleton was the starting pitcher for the Lions and received the no decision after 5.1 innings. Pendleton struck out three batters while allowing eight hits and six runs. Chase turner had a big night on offense going 3 for 5 at the plate. Sophomore Amir Wright, senior Zach Scott and junior Aaron Portee all went 2 for 4 to have a great hitting day as well.
The Lions had a great showing on offense with 11 hits, but they just couldn’t get the runners across the plate. The defense wasn’t as stout as it usually is, this time committing four errors which led to the 10-6 loss.
The game started off shaky as the Lions lost the lead in the second inning. Pendleton had a runner on third with two outs when he then got the batter to pop up to shallow center field. It was at this point the short stop and centerfielder crashed into each other. When the ball fell to the ground the runner had advanced and Nova scored. The next batter came and hit a three-run home run which then extended the lead 5-0.
However, the Lions were not going down without a fight and in the fifth inning they tied things up after huge at bats from seniors Zach Scott and Brett Coffel. They hit back to back home runs, one going to right center and the other to straightaway center field bringing the Lions to a tie at 6-6.
Saint Leo left runners on in the seventh inning and failed to get a runner across the plate. Things didn’t seem to be getting better for the Lions as they failed to score any runs in the eighth and ninth innings as well.
The Sharks, on the other hand, were able to get the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh to give them a 7-6 lead. The Sharks would eventually score three more runs in the top of the ninth ultimately putting the nail in the coffin to end the game. Nova retired the side in the bottom of the ninth and claimed the first of the three-game series.
