Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team capped off its biggest series win in program history on Sunday with an 11-6 victory over No. 23 Mississippi State at Harmon Stadium before a crowd of 1,048.

UNF (2-1) continued its offensive momentum from Saturday, this time led by senior Mike P. Smith, who finished 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. Senior Chad Knight also went 3-for-5 and scored three times. The Ospreys’ win helped them take two of three games from the Bulldogs and clinch their first series win over a ranked Division I team.

The Ospreys took control from the start, putting up five runs in the bottom of the first to take a 5-0 lead. Senior T.J. Gaudy’s two-out, two-run double helped drive in freshman Michael R. Smith and Mike P. Smith after sophomore T.J. Thompson, Knight and sophomore Preston Hale scored earlier in the inning.

Sophomore starting RHP Jonathan Turner blanked MSU through the first three innings, retiring 11 of the 14 batters he faced. Turner ran into a bit of trouble in the fourth, allowing a three-run home run by MSU’s Ryan Duffy.

Sophomore RHP Tucker Pryor relieved Turner in the fifth and held the lead for UNF to eventually pick up the win. Pryor allowed just one run on one hit in three innings of work.

After the Bulldogs were able to make things interested and cut the UNF lead to 5-4 in the top of the fifth, the Ospreys extended their lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the inning on Mike P. Smith’s three-run homer that also drove in senior Travis Martin and Hale.

UNF added another run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double by Hale that allowed Knight to score. Knight joined in on the RBI fiesta in the bottom of the seventh, sending in sophomore Andrew Hannon on a double to the right field gap. Martin followed it up with an RBI single that drove in Knight.

The Ospreys were break attendance records the entire weekend, averaging 1,120 for each game. UNF honored the U.S. Military by wearing the same jersey as the U.S. Military All-Star Team as part of Military Day and auctioned off the uniforms after the game. Amy Watkins Vazquez, mother of fallen Marine Corporal Joshua C. Watkins, threw out the first pitch. The proceeds from the auction went to the Marine Corporal Joshua C. Watkins Endowed Scholarship fund.

UNF will carry its momentum into Tuesday when it takes on Division II foe Flagler at Harmon Stadium. The game time is set for 7 p.m.