UNF ends day on positive swing

Saturday, April 12

Macon, Ga.

12:00 PM

University of North Florida

19-16, 10-10

Mercer

15-21, 10-10

North Florida

Mercer

Junior closer Tyler Stohr tallied his eight save on Saturday against Mercer.

4/12/2008 8:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Ospreys take game two of doubleheader

By: Eric Scott, UNF Athletics

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

MACON, Ga. - The University of North Florida baseball team was able to put a promising end to a day that started out somewhat disappointing on Saturday when it won the second game of its doubleheader against Mercer, 4-3.

Sophomore Preston Hale finished the day 3-for-9 with three runs scored, a double and an RBI. Sophomore Andrew Hannon had three RBIs.

Junior RHP Spencer Jones led UNF (19-16, 10-10 Atlantic Sun Conference) in game two on the mound, pitching 7.0 innings and allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts to pick up his fourth win of the season. Junior closer Tyler Stohr pitched 2.0 hitless innings to wrap up the game and notched his eighth save of the season, which is tops in the A-Sun and ranks in the nation's top 10.

The Ospreys fell behind 2-0 in the bottom of the first of the second game when Mercer got an RBI groundout from Tyler Brown and an RBI single from Billy Shaughnessy.

UNF equalized the game in the top of the third on an RBI single up the middle by senior Chad Knight, which allowed sophomore Michael Gropper to score. Hale tacked on another run when he blasted a double down the left field line to drive in Knight.

Mercer (15-21, 10-10) took a brief lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Matt Crawford, but the Ospreys countered in the top of the fifth and knotted the game at three. In an inning that looked like it could be a routine 1-2-3 outing for the Ospreys, things took a turn for the unusual.

Senior Andy Warren reached base on a two-out infield hit to second base. Then on the next play, he scored all the way from first when Mercer LHP Dan April had a failed pickoff attempt go into right field foul territory and right fielder John Dortch's throw flew into left field when he tried to gun down Andy Warren at third.

UNF scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh when Warren hit a sacrifice fly into deep center field that allowed Hale to score.

The day began two hours late for UNF after rain forced the start time of game one to be pushed back. It looked as if the Ospreys weren't ready to play because the Bears took it to UNF early, putting up six runs through the first three innings and grabbing a 7-1 lead through seven.

It wasn't until the top of the eighth that the Ospreys finally started to wake up and make a run at the deficit. UNF loaded the bases with two outs, which gave Hannon enough ammunition to drive in two runs with a single through the left side hole. Hannon later scored on a wild pitch, while sophomore Ryan Lowe capped the scoring with a two-run single that drove in senior T.J. Gaudy and Warren.

But as noisy as the Ospreys were in the eighth, they were that much more silent in the top of the ninth, going down in order to close out the game and fall 7-6.

Junior RHP Ty Pryor pitched 5.2 innings of quality relief, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five. Sophomore RHP Tucker Pryor (3-3) picked up the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits in 1.1 innings of work.

The Ospreys will conclude the series with Mercer at 1 p.m. on Sunday. It will be aired live and on- demand on ASUN.TV. UNF audio will be available on FloridaCast.com, with Mike Ridaught and Marty Pallman handling commentary.