Feb. 10, 2007

Box Score

CONWAY, S.C. - The University of North Florida baseball team struggled to get the bats going for the second straight day at the Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament, as the Ospreys dropped a 10-1 contest to the eighth-ranked Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday.

UNF (0-2) mustered only four hits, including two off Virginia winning starting pitcher Jacob Thompson, who struck out eight in five innings of work. Freshman third baseman Paul Morales drove in the Ospreys' lone run and finished 1-for-1. Senior catcher Brandon Diaz had the best day at the plate, finishing 2-for-3. Although UVa walked six batters, UNF wasn't able to capitalize on opportunities, leaving 10 on base.

After the Ospreys held Virginia to a scoreless first inning, the flood gates started to open. In the second inning, UVa's Patrick Wingfield singled in a run. Then UVa's Jeremy Farrell scored when senior first baseman Jimmy Glanville had a tough hop on hard-hit ball and wasn't able to throw out Farrell at the plate in time. The Cavaliers finished with three runs in the inning.

Virginia (2-0) didn't let up, scoring seven more runs over the next four innings. Seven of UVa's 10 runs were given up by starter Tyler Stohr, who went 3.2 innings and allowed seven hits. Reliever Antonio Franzese also had a tough time with the Cavaliers, allowing three runs on five hits.

Things did get better in the field for the Ospreys, however, as senior Derek Bell pitched two innings of scoreless ball. He allowed just one hit and struck out three hitters. Glanville had a solid day in the field, recording seven putouts and three assists. Redshirt freshman Mycal Jones also made athletic plays at shortstop and finished with three assists and three putouts.

The Ospreys finally got something going at the plate in the bottom of the eighth when Morales hit a two-out single up the middle that drove in Glanville, who led off the inning by being hit by a pitch. But it proved to be far too little, as UNF went 1-2-3 in the ninth inning.

North Florida will close out the tournament tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. against Elon, who is also 0-2 at the tournament with losses to Virginia and Coastal Carolina.