University of North Florida
0-1
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Mississippi State
1-0
Bulldogs put bite into Ospreys
2/22/2008 8:21:00 PM | Baseball
Travis Martin tallies two RBIs in season-opener
Photo Gallery by Tim Rucci
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team brought the best to town with No. 23 Mississippi State and got exactly that in an 8-2 season-opening loss at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville on Friday.
Senior designated hitter Travis Martin was responsible for UNF's two runs with a two-run single in the bottom of the third that drove in T.J. Thompson and Michael R. Smith. Martin finished the night 1-for-3. Senior second baseman Chad Knight had a solid night, going 2-for-2 with a double.
UNF (0-1) was to battle out of a couple of early jams with junior Ty Pryor on the mound. Pryor ran into trouble in the top of the first when MSU put runners on the corners with no outs. But Pryor hung tough, getting Jason Nappi to ground back to him for the third out after forcing Brandon Turner to foul out and striking out Connor Powers.
Pryor slipped out of another tight situation in the top of the second after Andy Rice smashed a one-out double to left center. Rice later advanced to third on a fielder's choice, but Pryor ended the inning by getting Goforth to ground out.
However, Pryor's flirtations with danger came back to haunt him in the top of third when he walked three-straight batters to load the bases with two outs. Sophomore Antonio Franzese came in to stop the floodgates, but a pitch that hung too far inside helped Rice to hit a grand slam.
The Bulldogs (1-0) tacked on to their lead, with one run in the fourth, two runs in the fifth and another run in the sixth. Turner finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Pryor picked up the loss after 2.2 innings of work and allowing three runs on two hits while walking five. MSU's Justin Pigott notched the win, going 5.0 innings and allowing two runs on five hits with nine strikeouts.
UNF will resume its series with the Bulldogs tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Harmon Stadium. Live stats and audio will be available on UNFOspreys.com.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Justin Pigott (1-0)
L: Pryor, Ty (0-1)
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Batting:
2B: Russ Sneed 1 ; Jason Nappi 1 ; Andy Rice 1
HR: Brandon Turner 1 ; Andy Rice 1
RBI: Brandon Turner 2 ; Andy Rice 4 ; Cody Freeman 1
SF: Cody Freeman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Russ Sneed 1 ; Brandon Turner 1 ; Connor Powers 1 ; Jason Nappi 2 ; Tyler Moore 2 ; Andy Rice 1
HBP: Jeff Flagg 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Michael 1 ; Knight, Chad 1
RBI: Martin, Travis 2
SH: Gaudy, T.J. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith, Michael 1 ; Thompson, TJ 1
SB: Smith, Michael 1
HBP: Smith, Michael 1 ; Martin, Travis 1 ; Lowe, Ryan 1
