University of North Florida
Valdosta State
UNF blasts Valdosta State in home opener
2/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 8, 2005) - The University of North Florida baseball team pounded out 17 hits, and four Osprey pitchers combined to allow six hits and no earned runs, as fourth-ranked UNF upended 14th-ranked Valdosta State on Tuesday afternoon at Harmon Stadium.
UNF tallied five hits in the second inning alone, fueling a six-run outburst that put the game out of reach early, as the Ospreys (4-0) won their home opener and their 25th game in 35 tries against the Blazers (1-1).
Mike Fryrear was 2-for-2 with three RBIs, and Sadry Café finished 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored to fuel the UNF offense. Colin Fender (1-0) pitched five scoreless innings, allowing only one hit, to earn the win.
"We swung the bats pretty well today," UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes said. "They made a few mistakes early in the game and we capitalized on them. Once we got ahead, our pitchers did a great job of keeping things under control. It was a good day all around."
UNF chased Valdosta State starter Jacques Wattecamps (0-1) with two outs in the third inning after increasing their lead to 7-0 on a Fryrear RBI- single. Wattecamps allowed six earned runs and seven hits in 2.2 innings and walked two batters.
The Ospreys added another run in the fifth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth to round out the scoring. Valdosta State's only run came in the sixth, when a fielding error by UNF centerfielder Josh Howard allowed Robert Morgan to score from third with two outs. That came against Ben Pincus, who relieved Fender in the sixth.
Jared Incinelli and Josh Papelbon closed out the game from there for the Ospreys.
Eleven UNF players collected hits in the game, including two apiece from Howard and Brennan Grogan. Morgan was 2-for-3 for the Blazers.
UNF returns to action on Wednesday against Florida Tech in its final home game of the month. The Ospreys and Panthers will play at 3 p.m., and UNF will then play its next 10 games on the road. Wednesday's game will be carried live via the World Wide Web at www.unf.edu/sports.
