University of North Florida
Flagler
UNF blanks Flagler, 2-0
3/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 23, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida first baseman Marion Knowles hit a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning, and three Ospreys pitchers combined on UNF's second consecutive shutout, in a 2-0 blanking of Flagler at Harmon Stadium on Tuesday night.
Jeremy Papelbon (2-1) scattered seven hits and struck out three batters in six strong innings, and Jared Incinelli pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his second save - helping the Ospreys post back- to-back shutouts for the first time since 2001. UNF (21-8) shut out Armstrong Atlantic 6-0 on Sunday.
"Our pitching was pretty good again," UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes said. "I thought our guys battled out there and kept us in it. We didn't swing the bats as well as we can, but we got the big hit when we needed it."
Against Flagler (21-14), the Ospreys got on base often - pounding out 12 hits - but couldn't deliver a key hit with runners in scoring position. Three double plays snuffed out scoring threats in the early going before Knowles delivered with one out in the sixth, driving home Matt Oxendine and Jon Skorupski.
Oxendine was 4-for-4 for UNF, while Skorupski was 3- for-4. Colin Fender also pitched a perfect inning for the Ospreys.
Liam McClay (4-2) suffered the loss for the Saints, allowing nine hits in seven innings. Preston Picard was 2-for-3, Ryan Pennington 2-for-4 and Adam Blount 2-for-4 for Flagler.
UNF will return to action this weekend with a three-game Peach Belt Conference series at Francis Marion in Florence, S.C. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Friday and a single game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
