CLEVELAND, Miss. – A game of home run derby saw West Alabama and Nova Southeastern combine for nine long balls on the day, but 21 hits from the defending national champions led the Sharks to a 20-5 victory over the Tigers in the first round of the NCAA South Regional at Ferriss Field on Thursday.
 
The Sharks (34-16) will move on to face the winner of the No. 2 Tampa (37-12)-No. 7 Miles (31-21) game at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Tigers (34-20) will have one more loss to give in the tournament, and will face the loser of the Tampa-Miles game at 11 a.m.
 
"Win or lose, you've got to be able to put the game behind you," UWA head coach Gary Rundles said. "We're one loss away now, but like I just told these guys, we've battled all year, struggled through adversity and come back when a lot of people counted us out.
 
"I expect us to come out here and play better tomorrow no matter who we're playing."
 
Nova Southeastern attacked early, scoring lead-off batter Sebastian Diaz, who reached on a single, thanks to a Tiger fielding error. A single up the middle from Kevin Suarez on the next Shark at-bat chased Dylan Woods home from second base for a 2-0 Nova lead after the first.
 
The Sharks extended their lead to 4-0 in the third as Kevin Gomez launched a two-run shot over left field, pushing Jake Anchia, who got aboard via walk on the previous at-bat, across the plate.
 
Kevin Woods wasted little time at the plate in the Nova fourth, lifting a lead-off homer over the right centerfield fence for a 5-0 Shark advantage. Gomez, who broke Nova's career home run record (34) with his first of the day, hammered a two-run homer over left center to widen the gap to 7-0 in the Sharks' favor.
 
Andrew Liberty followed Gomez's lead on the next Nova at-bat, sending a solo homer over left field to further the margin to 8-0. Michael Hernandez punched the third consecutive home run out over left center for a 9-0 Nova lead before the dust settled in the fourth.
 
West Alabama's bats heated up in the top of the fifth as Josh Winningham drove Marcus Morrisette in from third on a single to right field, cutting the deficit to 9-1.
 
Tyler Lee grabbed two runs-batted-in on the next at-bat, launching a two-run homer over left center to score himself and Winingham before Brock Montgomery hit his seventh homer of the season on the next Tiger at-bat to pull UWA within five runs.
 
The Tigers' rally continued with Taylor Stafford as the junior left fielder connected for the Tigers' third homerun of the inning, shaving the gap down to 9-5.
 
"We came out and made it 9-5 with a lot of game left, but we couldn't throw strikes and gave them too many base runners," Rundles said. "They kept putting pressure on us and finally got the big hits they needed."
 
However, Nova's Liberty cranked out his second homer of the day, this time a three-run shot over left field in the bottom of the sixth, establishing a seven-run Shark lead. NSU added an additional eight runs in the eighth frame to push the score line to a final 20-5.
 
"Both teams played on the same field, and I give credit to them," Rundles said. "They did what they need to to win today and I hope we battle back and get the opportunity to play them again."
 
Diaz led the vanguard of a 21-hit NSU attack with four hits on the day, while Gomez and Liberty each recorded five RBI and combined for four homers. Winingham and Lee paced Tiger batters with two hits each. Lee's two RBI led UWA.
 
Matt Hardy (8-2) earned the pitching win, disallowing a hit until the fourth inning and ringing up six batters in five and 2/3 innings on the mound. Seth Holbert (8-5) took the loss, giving up six earned runs on 10 hits in three and 2/3 innings of work.