Rough Day For Panther Baseball, Drop Doubleheader To Nova
By Florida Tech // April 12, 2015
Drop to 32-7 On the year
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – After a momentous 5-3 victory in the series opener on Friday, seventh-ranked Florida Tech received the short end of the stick in Saturday’s doubleheader against No. 5 Nova Southeastern, falling 12-7 and 7-2.
The pair of defeats mark the first time the Panthers have lost consecutive contests this season.
The long ball proved to be quite the difference-maker at the NSU Baseball Complex this weekend.
After connecting on a pair of home runs in Friday’s triumph, the Panthers came up empty Saturday. Meanwhile, the Sharks slugged a total of six, each ensuing home run just as painful as the last.
Tied atop the Sunshine State Conference with eight wins, lefty Scotty Ward received the no-decision in game one of the afternoon.
With the exception of three solo home runs in the apparent jet stream in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Ward pitched rather effectively, surrendering five hits in 6.2 innings of work.
The senior exited with a 7-3 lead midway through the seventh inning, but things turned south for the Panthers shortly thereafter.
A Roche Woodard home run, his second of the ball game, cut the Florida Tech lead to 7-4, before the Sharks blew the top off with a devastating nine-run eighth inning to draw even in the series.
Anxious to rebound in the finale, Florida Tech cashed in quickly with a run in the first inning of the afternoon capper.
Receiving the shift treatment for most of the weekend, Austin Allen made the Sharks rethink their strategy after scoring Reid Neal all the way from first on a lined double into left field.
The Panthers appeared to be dialed in offensively, making Nova Southeastern starter Ryan Castellanos labor to a 28-pitch first inning, but the bats were silenced for much of the remainder of the game.
Following a promising start, Florida Tech failed to plate another run until the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly by Ricky Rodriguez. By that point the Panthers faced a five-run deficit, one too steep to overcome against a club as strong as Nova Southeastern.
Despite the setback, Florida Tech remains in second in the SSC standings with a league-record of 13-6.
FIT will look to bounce back, as it hosts Barry in a nonconference matchup beginning Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Live video, audio and stats will be available at FloridaTechSports.com/live
