UNF splits with Eagles

Saturday, March 1

Fort Myers, Fla.

4:00 PM

University of North Florida

3-1, 1-0

Florida Gulf Coast

4-1, 0-1

North Florida

Florida Gulf Coast

Junior RHP John Raiford tossed 3.1 innings of shutout relief on Saturday.

3/1/2008 9:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Ospreys take game one 5-1

By: Eric Scott, UNF Athletics

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team got its conference season off to a promising start on Saturday when it split its doubleheader with Florida Gulf Coast.

UNF (3-2, 1-1 Atlantic Sun Conference) got up early in its 5-1 game one win over the Eagles, putting up four runs in the top of the second. Sophomore catcher Ryan Lowe sparked the barrage of runs when he hammered a bases-clearing three-run double to the right center gap. Sophomore T.J. Thompson wrapped up the scoring with an RBI single that drove Lowe in.

Junior RHP Ty Pryor (1-1) picked up his first win of the season after throwing 6.0 innings and allowing just one run on three hits. He mowed down Eagles hitters one by one, racking up seven strikeouts.

Junior RHP Antonio Franzese was nearly flawless in relief of Pryor, allowing just two hits in 2.1 innings of work. Junior RHP Tyler Stohr came in to pitch the final two outs of the game and picked up the save.

Senior T.J. Gaudy finished game one 2-for-3 with a run scored and a triple, while Lowe finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs.

After falling behind 3-2 in the second game, the Ospreys were able to battle back and knot the game when an errant throw by FGCU's Stephen Wickens allowed senior Mike P. Smith to score.

The bulldog-like relief performance of junior RHP John Raiford allowed UNF to creep back into the game. Raiford cruised through the Eagle lineup and allowed just two hits in 3.1 innings of work. He had to leave the game in the seventh inning when a line drive struck him in the ankle.

Junior Phil Rorabaugh (0-1) tossed a solid 2.0 innings of relief, racking up three strikeouts and retiring eight of 10 batters. But in the end, UNF couldn't provide him with the clutch hitting he needed, and in the bottom of the 10^th, FGCU's Josh Upchurch hit a two-out single that was the game-winning RBI to give the Eagles a 4-3 win.

Sophomore Andrew Hannon went 2-for-5 with a run scored in the second game. Lowe put up two hits to add to his total.

The Ospreys will wrap up their series with the Eagles at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The will be aired live on ASUN.TV.