March 19, 2005

Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida first baseman Marion Knowles belted a two-run home run, and pitcher Ryan Amason allowed six hits and struck out 10 in a complete- game performance, to lead the Ospreys to a 6-2 win over Armstrong Atlantic State in Peach Belt Conference baseball on Saturday at Harmon Stadium.

UNF (18-8, 5-5 PBC) broke a 1-1 tie with a four-run fourth inning - highlighted by Knowles' sixth home run of the year - to take a 5-1 lead. They added another run in the seventh on Jon Skorupski's RBI-single to cruise to the finish against the Pirates (19-3, 2-2 PBC), who came into the weekend atop the Peach Belt standings.

Skorupski and Matt Oxendine were both 2- for-4 for UNF.

"We got good pitching from (Amason) and had some clutch hits," UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes said. "It is always big when you can get the first game of a series. We still have a lot of work left to do, and we will face their best pitchers (on Sunday)."

UNF broke out on top in the second inning when Sadry Café led off with a double and then scored when Brooks West reached on a two-out throwing error by AASU third baseman Devon Franklin. The Pirates tied it in the top of the third on Brandon Nunez's solo home run off.

The Ospreys answered with their four-run outburst in the fourth, however, and cruised to the finish behind Amason (3-0), who walked only one batter and threw 115 pitches to cap his third complete game of the year.

Chris Webb (3-2) suffered the loss for Armstrong Atlantic, allowing nine hits and three earned runs in seven innings.

The teams will conclude their three-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at noon. Both games can be heard via the World Wide Web at www.unfospreys.com.