UNF strands 16 in 9-3 loss to Buckeyes

Wednesday, May 16

Columbus, Ohio

12:00 PM

University of North Florida

23-30

OHIO STATE

32-19

North Florida

Ohio State

5/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

May 16, 2007

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - After a classic battle last night with Ohio State, the University of North Florida baseball team left 16 runners on base and couldn't keep any sustained pressure on the Buckeyes in a 9-3 loss on Wednesday afternoon at Bill Davis Stadium.

Despite out hitting OSU 12-10, the Ospreys squandered several scoring opportunities. UNF (23-30) didn't help its case in the field either, committing four costly errors. The Ospreys were led at the plate by junior Mike Smith, who went 3-for-5 with a double. Jon Dandridge, Travis Martin and Damon Olinto all had RBIs for UNF. Redshirt freshman Mycal Jones went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

Redshirt freshman Jonathan Turner (4-2) picked up the loss for the Ospreys after allowing four runs on five hits with two walks. Freshman Ryan McCoy was the only Osprey pitcher to not allow run and kept the Buckeyes hitless in two innings of relief along with two strikeouts.

OSU (32-19) clamped down on UNF from the start of the game, scoring two runs in both the first and second innings. The Ospreys tried to get on the board first in the top of the first inning after a one-single by Smith and a double by Jones to put runners at second and third. But a foul out by Dandridge and a flyout by senior Jimmy Glanville ended the inning and stifled UNF's early momentum.

The Ospreys cut OSU's lead to 4-1 in the top of the third when Dandridge smashed an RBI double down the left field line that drove Jones across the plate. But the Buckeyes tacked on four more in the fourth and fifth innings to move the game out of reach for UNF.

Travis Martin put another run on the board for the Ospreys in the top of the fifth inning on his double to the gap in right center to drive Chad Knight home. The Ospreys battled until the last out in the game, adding one last run in the top of the ninth on Olinto's RBI single that allowed Brian Wilson to score. The game ended was redshirt freshman Kevin Martin was thrown out at third on the same play.

UNF has now totaled at least 10 hits for the 10th consecutive game. The Ospreys also blasted four doubles for the second time in the last three games.

The Ospreys will close out the season with a three-game series that begins tomorrow at 7 p.m. against Atlantic Sun Conference foe Gardner-Webb at Harmon Stadium. The series concludes with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday, which will be Senior Day. Thursday's game will be broadcast live on WBOB-AM 1320 in Jacksonville and the final two will be on UNFOspreys.com.