SAINT LEO, Fla. – The 12^th-ranked Saint Leo University baseball team dropped a lopsided decision Saturday afternoon to the 20^th-ranked Sharks of Nova Southeastern, 19-4, inside Thomas B. Southard Stadium. The Sharks connected on a homerun in the very first at bat of the game and never looked back as they scored in all but two innings of the nine frame affair. The Lions plated a pair of runs in both the first and sixth innings but it was not enough to slow down the streaking Sharks who drove in 19 runs off of a season-high 26 hits.
 
Junior Jared Morello led the Lions with three base knocks in four trips to the plate. The Valley Falls, N.Y., native scored two of Saint Leo's four runs in the contest. Redshirt senior Chase Turner and junior Brett Coffel each picked up a pair of hits in the loss while Turner led the team with two runs driven in. Coffel and senior Zach Scott each had one RBI to account for the other two tallies by the Lions in the contest.
 
Redshirt junior Shane Haight took the start for the Lions on the mound and pitched 2.0 innings while striking out one and allowing five runs. The Tampa, Fla., native took the loss, his second of the season, while Nova Southeastern's Devin Conn picked up the victory after going 6.0 innings with six strikeouts and a walk.
 
The Lions sent five different pitchers to the mound Saturday with four of the five each getting 2.0 innings of work. Junior Jake Sims was the most productive of the group as he picked up four strikeouts and allowed just one hit in his two innings of work.
 
The loss drops Saint Leo's record to 26-7 on the season and 9-5 in Sunshine State Conference play while the Sharks improved to 22-9 overall and 14-3 in league play.
 
Nova Southeastern tallied a pair of runs in the opening frame of the game off a pair of solo homeruns by former Lion Dylan Harris and Jake Anchia. The Lions countered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning as sophomore Amir Wright and Morello opened the Lions offensive attack with back-to-back singles. After a groundout moved the pair to second and third, Turner drove home Saint Leo's first run of the game off a groundout to the shortstop. Following a walk to make it first and second wih two outs, Coffel singled through the left side to tie the game at 2-2.
 
The Sharks went on to score 13 unaswered runs before Saint Leo stuck again in the sixth. Back-to-back-to-back singles to open the frame by Morello, junior Peyton Isaacson and Turner tallied the first run of the frame. Scott followed up with an RBI groundout but that would be all Saint Leo could muster. Following a single by Coffel the Lions posted back-to-back strikeouts to end the momentum.
 
Nova Southeastern added four more runs in the eighth to push their advantage to 19-4 which would be the final score one inning later.
 
Saint Leo will close out the three game Sunshine State Conference series with Nova Southeastern tomorrow afternoon with a scheduled 1 pm start at Thomas B. Southard Stadium.
 
For more on the Saint Leo baseball program, visit SaintLeoLions.com. Also, be sure to 'Like' the Lions on Facebook and 'Follow' Saint Leo Athletics on Twitter and Instagram.