University of North Florida
USC Aiken
UNF slugs out win
5/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 21, 2005
JACKSONVILE, Fla. - The University of North Florida baseball team stayed alive in the South Atlantic Regional after slugging out a 10-9 win against USC Aiken on Friday at Harmon Stadium.
UNF (43-15) will now move on to face Kennesaw State in Saturday's championship round, needing to win two against the Owls to advance to the national tournament in Montgomery, Ala.
UNF second baseman Mike Fryrear drove home the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Jon Skorupski.
Aiken put runners on at the corners in the bottom of the ninth with one out but couldn't tie the game up, as Josh Papelbon forced Pacers' catcher Robert Davis to ground into a double play, ending the contest.
Papelbon picked up his 11th save in the process, giving Jared Incinelli (4-1) the win. Nick Wandless (4-1) suffered the loss for Aiken.
UNF carried a 9-7 advantage into the bottom of the seventh inning partially on the strength of home runs by Sadry Café, Jon Skorupski and Matt Oxendine. Aiken, however, tied the contest when Davis doubled to left to drive home a pair of runs.
The game got off to a favorable start for North Florida when the Ospreys batted around in the top of the first inning scoring four runs. Aiken turned the tables on UNF when it batted around in the bottom of the first, ending the inning with a 5-4 lead.
The teams traded runs in the third and UNF claimed an 8-6 lead in the fourth, scoring three runs, two of which came on a Skorupski home run.
Skorupski finished the game 3-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs, while Davis led Aiken with a 3-for-6 night.
USC Aiken's season comes to an end with the loss after the Pacers compiled a 40-19 record.
Postgame quotes
USC Aiken head coach Kenny Thomas
"The guys played hard all season. They fought back all year and did it again tonight. We came up short, but that's the way baseball goes."
UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes
"We scored nine runs in a game earlier today, but still ended up in the loser's bracket. That's what college baseball is about. You have to swing the bats. We didn't fold [after losing to Kennesaw State]. We're still in it."
