Ospreys will dig in against Mercer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team will try to get back in the thick of the conference race this weekend when it takes on Atlantic Sun Conference opponent Mercer for a three-game series in Macon, Ga.

The series will begin with a noon doubleheader on Saturday and concludes with a single contest on Sunday at 1 p.m. Mercer won last season's series 2-1 in Jacksonville. After getting 10-runned in game one of a doubleheader, the Ospreys lost 4-3 in 10 innings in the second game after holding a 3-1 lead. UNF took the last game of the series 8-2 and got a textbook performance from John Atteo, who allowed just one run in eight innings and struck out seven.

UNF is coming off an 11-5 exhibition win over the U.S. Military All-Stars on Thursday night at Harmon Stadium following two close losses (5-3 and 3-2) to No. 21 Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday in Gainesville, Fla. The Ospreys committed four errors in the two games, two of which accounted for unearned runs. UNF left a combined 17 runners on base and hit just .200 with runners in scoring position.

Mercer split a two-game midweek series with Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Fla. The Bears took game one of the series 11-3 but fell 4-3 in the finale after being held to just three hits. John Dortch leads Mercer in six different offensive categories, including batting average (.370), hits (47), triples (4), RBIs (39) and slugging percentage (.583).

What: UNF Baseball at Mercer

When: Saturday at noon (DH); Sunday at 1 p.m.

Where: Claude Smith Field (Macon, Ga.)

Records: UNF (18-15, 9-9 A-Sun), Mercer (14-20, 9-9 A-Sun)

All-Time Series: Tied 3-3

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Notables: UNF has won four of its last five A-Sun games … the Ospreys are 3-4 in April so far this season … UNF is 247-97 all-time in April … the Ospreys are hitting .339 as a team this month with a .412 on base percentage but also has a team ERA of 5.28 … senior Travis Martin is currently on a career-long 10-game hitting streak, which is tied for the season long set by senior Chad Knight … Martin is hitting .459 over that streak … if it weren't for an 0-for-4 performance against USF on March 26, Martin would currently be on a 15-game hitting streak … Martin is hitting a team-best .467 with runners in scoring position … sophomore Michael Gropper is hitting .625 with two doubles and three runs scored in his last three games … UNF has recorded at least one extra-base hit in all but two of its conference games this season and has done so 15 games in a row … the Ospreys have notched 18 doubles in their last five A-Sun games … sophomore LHP John Atteo has won three consecutive games and has a 3.15 ERA during that stretch, bringing his overall ERA down to 6.75 from 10.53 … junior RHP Ty Pryor has not allowed a run in his last 12.1 innings pitched … the Ospreys are outscoring opponents in the fifth innings 35-10 … the Ospreys are second in the A-Sun in team batting average with a .318 mark … sophomore Andrew Hannon's .386 batting average has him ranked third in the A-Sun, while Knight's .385 average ranks him fourth.

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