University of North Florida
Augustana (S.D.)
Ospreys sweep out of PBC
5/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May. 1, 2005
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida baseball team capped its eight-year membership in the Peach Belt Conference in a fitting way on Sunday afternoon - with a dominating victory.
The third-ranked Ospreys (39-11, 23-7 PBC) scored four runs in the fifth inning, two more in the seventh and got a complete-game performance from starter Jacob Dixon to cap a three-game weekend sweep of Augusta State (28-25-1, 12-17-1 PBC) at Harmon Stadium with a 6-1 win.
Dixon (5-3) allowed five hits and struck out 10 to win his third consecutive start and the fifth in his last six games. The win was also UNF's 15th straight at home and extended the Ospreys' overall winning streak to 10 games.
Grant Rogers blasted a two-run home run in the fifth inning to break a scoreless deadlock, and Jon Skorupski followed with a two-run double later in the inning, to push UNF ahead 4-0. Augusta State scored its only run in the seventh on an RBI-single by Sam Barth.
A Skorupski sacrifice fly and a Damon Olinto RBI- single rounded out the scoring in the bottom of the seventh. The teams completed the game in just an hour and 55 minutes.
Augusta State's Brett Chandler (4-1) suffered the loss, pitching a strong four innings before the Ospreys hit him for all four runs in the fifth. He allowed five hits and two walks in 4.2 innings.
UNF swept a doubleheader from the Jaguars on Saturday, capturing its third consecutive Peach Belt Conference crown and its sixth in eight seasons of membership. The Ospreys, who will move to the Division I Atlantic Sun Conference in 2005-06, finished their Peach Belt run with a 175-58 (.751) mark all time.
The weekend sweep likely locked up the Ospreys to host the 2005 NCAA South Atlantic Regional, which will be played from May 19-21. Before that, UNF has five games remaining - including a home contest against Flagler on Tuesday at 6 p.m. After that, UNF will play two games against fourth-ranked Florida Southern on May 10-11 and Tampa on May 13-14 - all at Harmon Stadium.
