By: Samantha Witte, Staff Writer
The Saint Leo Men’s Baseball team stayed home to defend their own home this weekend for a three game series against Nova Southeastern University Sharks. This was their first Sunshine State Conference series of the season. The Lions headed into this game with the number 10 ranking, and the Sharks hold the number 13 ranking. Saint Leo also went into this game with a record of 17-1, there only loss of the season was to Lindenwood. There games of this series were played at 6pm on Friday night and a double-header beginning at 1pm on Saturday.
Friday, March 6, 2015- A light mist lingered in the air and a cool breeze gently passed on through as the Lions prepared to take on Nova for the first game of their three game conference series of the weekend. Michael Dunnigan is the first to take the mound for the Lions.
Game 1:
The first inning finishes quickly with only one hit by Nova with a pick-off to end the top of the inning, and then Leo wasn’t able to find a gap with the first two hits. Then in the second, Nova is able to score one on a solo homerun by the first batter to step up to the plate. The Lions respond by getting two runners on base, but they were not able to get anyone across the plate.
In the fourth, Saint Leo was able to tie the game up starting with a leadoff double by Cole Stancil. Stancil was then able to steal third after a walk by Jordan Taylor. Troy Sieber hit a sacrifice fly to center, which allowed Stancil to safely cross the plate.
The Sharks didn’t take the Lions’ response too well, and they produced a homerun in the top of the fifth that scored two, making the score 1-3. Then, just to make sure of their lead, the Sharks scored two more in the top of the sixth. After the first run, Saint Leo brought in pitcher, Brett Nizamoff to finish off the inning. The Lions now trail by five with a score of 1-6.
In the top of the seventh, Leo makes another pitching change. This time, they brought in Jordan Pendleton, but the Sharks were still able to squeeze in one more to add to the board. The Lions are just not able to find a gap for the ball to get through, and they remain unable to add to their one run. In the ninth, Eoin McAvinchey comes in to close out the game for the Lions. He does just that by not allowing Nova to add to their lead.
The final score of the game was 1-7, which was a tough loss for the Lions, being only the second one for them this season. Their hits were simply just not able to find a way through. They appeared to be ready for the next chance to turn this series around and get back on their winning track.
Saturday, March 7, 2015- The Lions came out on a bright, sunny, and beautiful day for baseball to turn the momentum around for the second and third games of the conference series. Liam O’Sullivan took the mound this time for the Lions.
Game 2:
In the first inning, Nova came out strong and put up three runs on the Lions. The Lions were able to cut down the deficit by putting up one run in response with a single by Dylan Harris followed by a double from Jordan Taylor to score him.
The second inning had fans on the edge of their seats with all of the action. The Sharks added two to their score, but Saint Leo was able to take the lead by putting up five more runs on the board. The rally started with a walk by Troy Sieber, followed by a double by Bobby Twitty to place Sieber in scoring position. Dale Irving got the two RBIs with another double. The last three runs scored on a double by Nick Perez, single by Harris, and another double by Cole Stancil.
In the third, the Sharks took back the lead by scoring four and forcing a pitching change in the Saint Leo defense. Brandon Mumaw came in to pitch after the damage was done. Saint Leo was not able to add to their score this inning, but they added one in the fourth. This made the score after five, 7-9.
The bats of the Sharks came alive and were hot in the top of the fifth, and they added five more runs to their two-run lead, leaving Saint Leo with a lot of catching up to do. Dylan Collett also came in for a pitching switch towards the end. Leo added one in the sixth starting with a walk by Perez, who was brought in on a single by Alex Mata.
Nova was only able to score one more run for the remainder of the game on a solo homerun in the seventh, and Saint Leo added three more in the eighth that were scored on three hits and an error.
Saint Leo faced a long and tough loss with a final score of 15-11 for the third loss on their season. There is only one more game left against Nova, and one more chance for Saint Leo to walk away with a win in the series.
Game 3:
The second game of the day for the Lions got a bit of a late start after the eventful first game of the double header against Nova. The Lions need to come out looking for revenge in this game, and they choose Jordan Taylor to start in the circle for the final game in the series.
The first inning finished quickly, with no score by either team and simply a single and three quick outs by both teams as well. It was not until the second inning that Nova broke the tie and had one runner cross the plate.
Both teams were then able to hold each other scoreless until the fifth inning when Saint Leo was able to tie the game back up. They started the inning off with an error by Nova to get Alex Mata to first base. Mata was then able to reach second on a groundout by Bobby Twitty, then reached third on a single by Nick Boland, and finally crossed home on a sacrifice fly by Chase Turner.
Nova responded quickly by scoring another run in the top of the sixth, and Leo was unable to make anything happen in the bottom of the sixth. Then, Nova came out and scored two more in the top of the seventh, but this time Leo was able to come back with one in the bottom of the inning. This still left the Lions trailing the Sharks by two with two innings left to play. Tyrone Miller also came in to finish out the game on the mound for the Lions.
In the bottom of the ninth, Leo was able to put the pressure on with two runners on base, one on third and one on first. They just were not able to get anything through enough to score the runs needed for the win. The Sharks gave the Lions the fourth loss of the season, but the Lions will be back out next week to turn their streak around in the winning direction again.
