University of North Florida
West Virginia State University
UNF Up All Night:
Ospreys battle rain, get 5-2 win
6/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 1, 2005
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The University of North Florida baseball team didn't step on the field at Riverwalk Stadium to face West Virginia State University in the second round of the Division II World Series until four hours and 14 minutes after the scheduled start time of 7:30 p.m. After just one hour of play, the teams were chased from the field for another hour and 27 minutes by another rain delay.
The Ospreys (47-15) made sure to make it count when they did get the chance to step between the lines downing the Yellow Jackets 5-2 in a game that didn't end until 3:55 a.m. EST.
UNF got a strong performance on the mound from junior right-hander Ryan Amason to help propel the Ospreys to the win. Amason tossed seven innings, allowing just two runs on six hits, a walk and a hit batter, while throwing 102 pitches. The UNF junior also tied his career-high in strikeouts with 13.
Amason also recorded 13 strikeouts in a 2-0 win over Western Michigan on March 2.
With the win, the UNF hurler improves to 7-2 on the season.
"Amason really did a good job for us," UNF head coach Dusty Rhodes said. "Coming out of the rain delay he struggled a little, but I never even thought about taking him out. I thought if he could get a couple of strikeouts and we could score some runs we would be OK. It worked out for us. I can't say enough about what Amason did tonight. That team has four all-americans on the roster. To do what he did tonight is really something."
Josh Papelbon earned the save for the Ospreys after tossing two no-hit innings. The save was Papelbon's 13th of the season.
"When I came in I looked at the clock and all I thought was, `Wow, it's three in the morning.' I don't know if I have ever been up doing anything at 3 a.m.," Papelbon said.
After placing runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings, the Ospreys finally managed to plate a run in the bottom of the third when third baseman Jon Skorupski singled to right-center field to score outfielder Josh Howard and give UNF a 1-0 lead.
Howard reached base after being hit by a Marc Atkins' pitch. Howard stole second base and advanced to third base after West Virginia's Gerald Hager tagged out UNF designated hitter Brennan Grogan, who attempted to steal third base, and then tossed the ball into center field.
Coming out of the rain delay, the Yellow Jackets (44-15) took the lead in the top of the fifth inning when Joshua Miller singled up the middle to score Robert Flinn and Hager to give West Virginia State a 2-1 lead. Flinn started the rally with a single to left-center field. Hager reached base after being hit by a pitch.
UNF battled back to tie the game in its half of the sixth. Skorupski started the rally by drawing a walk. He then moved to second when UNF senior Sadry Café singled through the left side of the infield. On the next at bat, UNF first baseman Marion Knowles followed Café's lead by singling through the left side and scoring Skorupski from second base to knot the game at 2-2.
The Ospreys regained the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when Grogan jumped on a 3-1 fastball and drove it to the right-field wall for a leadoff triple. On the next pitch, Howard singled through the right side to plate Grogan and give UNF a 3-2 lead.
North Florida added a pair of runs in the eighth inning. Kevin Johnson singled through the left side of the infield to reach base and moved into scoring position after swiping second base. Johnson later came around to score when Grogan hit a fly ball to left field with two outs that was misplayed by Anthony Courts. With the inning extended, Howard singled to left field to plate Grogan and give the Ospreys a 5-2 lead.
Howard and Johnson led the offensive charge for the Ospreys. Both players were 2-for-3 at the plate. Howard also led the team with two RBIs and stole two bases to top off his night.
"Howard and Johnson really did a good job for us at the plate," Rhodes said. "They got some good swings at the ball tonight. The guys really did a good job of hanging in there and picking up a big win. This was a game that could have gone either way, but our guys are mentally tough and they made the plays when they had to."
The Ospreys will return to action on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. EST when they take on the winner of the Delta State-Grand Valley State game.
That game can be heard live via the World Wide Web at www.unfospreys.com.
