March 13, 2005
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida's Brennan Grogan finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs, including a three-run triple in the eighth inning, to help propel the 12th-ranked Ospreys to a 14-9 win over eighth-ranked Kennesaw State in the finale of a three-game series between the Peach Belt Conference rivals on Sunday afternoon.
Grogan's triple keyed a four-run outburst by UNF in the inning and capped a comeback that saw the Ospreys battle from behind three times in the contest at Harmon Stadium. UNF (16-8, 4-5 PBC) combined to score five runs in its final two innings at-bat to snap a 9-9 tie and win two of the three games played in the weekend series. The loss knocked the Owls (15-8, 7- 5 PBC) out of first place in the Peach Belt standings.
"This was a series we had to have," UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes said. "For us to win two out of three was big. We didn't play great, but we battled back all day. I thought we should have done a better job defensively, but we got the big hits when we needed them. The sun was bright and the wind was blowing hard, but it affected both sides. I was just glad to get the win."
UNF shortstop Matt Oxendine was 4-for-5 with three RBIs for UNF, making Grogan and Oxendine a combined 7-for-10 with seven RBIs in the top two spots of the Ospreys' lineup. Kevin Gergel was 5-for- 6 with a three-run home run for Kennesaw State.
The Ospreys rallied from an early 2-0 deficit with four runs in the second inning, keyed by Kevin Johnson's RBI-double and Grogan's run-scoring single. The Owls answered with a five-run fourth inning, capped off by Gergel's home run, to move ahead 7-5 - but things wouldn't stay that way long.
The teams exchanged the lead twice more before Kennesaw State tied the game again in the seventh inning on a throwing error by UNF's Sadry Café. From there, UNF took control - moving ahead for good on Jon Skorupski's RBI-double in the seventh. UNF's eighth inning heroics then blew the game open.
Jared Incinelli (2-1) pitched three solid innings of relief to earn the win, allowing four hits and no runs while striking out six. KSU's Brent Jackson (4-1) suffered the loss, allowing five hits and five runs over the final two innings. The Owls left 15 men on base in the game, while UNF left 10.
The Ospreys will return to action in the Kennel Club Classic this week when they host Iowa on Tuesday and Bradley on Wednesday at Harmon Stadium. First pitch for both games is set for 7 p.m. Both games can be heard on the World Wide Web at www.unfospreys.com.
