JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The University of North Florida baseball team couldn't take advantage of opportunities at the plate on Friday night and left nine on base in a 6-3 loss to ETSU.
UNF (13-11, 5-8 Atlantic Sun Conference) snapped its four-game winning streak. Sophomore
Preston Hale led the Ospreys with a 3-for-5 performance that included a home run and a double.
ETSU (6-17, 6-7) got on the board first in the bottom of the first with a run and put the Ospreys in a hole in the third when the Buccaneers put up three more to take a 4-0 lead. After ETSU's Jacob Fabry drove in Nick Belcher on a single, Anthony Russell hit a two-run home run.
Senior
Andy Warren answered in the top of the fourth when he drove in sophomore
Andrew Hannon on an RBI single up the middle. Hannon led off the inning with a single. Sophomore
T.J. Thompson helped cut the ETSU lead to 4-2 in the top of the sixth on his RBI double to left center that drove in
Ryan Lowe.
But the Buccaneers raised the stakes in the bottom of the inning when they extended their lead to 6-2. ETSU's Danny Petro hit an RBI triple that drove in Paul Hoilman, and Bubba Herbold drove in Petro on a sacrifice fly.
Hale's blast in the top of the seventh inched the Ospreys closer to the lead, but UNF couldn't keep the rally going the rest of the way.
Junior RHP
John Raiford dropped to 2-1 with the loss after lasting four innings and allowing four runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Junior RHP
Antonio Franzese had five strikeouts in four innings of relief and allowed two runs on four hits.
Hannon finished 3-for-4 with a run scored. Senior
Chad Knight extended his hitting streak to nine games after going 2-for-5.
The Ospreys will return to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. against ETSU with a doubleheader. Both games will be webcasted on UNFOspreys.com. Live stats will also be available.
