Box Score
KENNESAW, Ga. - The University of North Florida baseball team was able to come out on top of a wild finish and beat Kennesaw State 6-5 in 10 innings on Sunday in the final game of an Atlantic Sun Conference series.
With two outs and junior closer Tyler Stohr about to shut the door on KSU in the bottom of the 10th for the win, Drew Fowlkes popped up a high fly ball into shallow left center. Heavy winds grabbed hold of the ball, which caused senior Chad Knight to not be able to catch it. Sophomore Andrew Hannon bare-handed the ball and gunned it to home plate, where sophomore catcher Michael Gropper had the plate blocked.
KSU's Curtis Van Wyck came all the way around from first and booked it to home plate, bowling over Gropper at the plate. Gropper held on to the ball, however, and UNF sealed the win. Van Wyck was subsequently ejected from the game for his illegal slide. Words were exchanged between the teams and the benches cleared, but the umpires were able to avoid a crisis by breaking up the melee. Everything ended with both head coaches shaking hands at home plate.
Four different Ospreys had an RBI. Sophomore Preston Hale and Hannon both had a team- high two hits. Stohr picked up the win on the mound to improve to 3-2. Junior RHP Antonio Franzese allowed five runs in 6.0 innings as the starter, but just one was earned.
UNF (27-24, 16-14 A-Sun) went up for good in the top of the 10th when senior Andy Warren hit a deep fly ball to right field to sacrifice in freshman pinch runner Michael R. Smith. The Ospreys were aided by an Adam Fine wild pitch to move runners to second and third after the Owls were able to thwart a sacrifice bunt attempt by Hannon.
The Ospreys tied it in the top of the eighth when Hannon led off the inning with a double. After Warren successfully sacrificed Hannon over to third, senior T.J. Gaudy hit an RBI groundout to second to bring in Hannon.
KSU (27-25, 18-12) got on the board first when it put up three runs in the bottom of the second. UNF countered in the top of the third when sophomore T.J. Thompson hit an RBI groundout to allow freshman Sam Perry to score and sophomore Ryan Lowe scored on an error by KSU first baseman Ric Bishop.
The Ospreys fell behind 5-2 when the Owls added another run in the bottom of the sixth, but in the top of the seventh, UNF answered to pull to within one. Knight drove the first run in when he hit a single to center field to allow Gaudy to score. Hale followed suit with an RBI single to left field, bringing Thompson across the plate.
UNF snapped a four-game losing streak and picked up its second-straight Sunday win. The Ospreys also improved their record to 3-2 in extra- inning games.
A major challenge awaits the Ospreys on Tuesday when they will head south to Coral Gables, Fla., to take on No. 1 Miami at 7 p.m. It will be the second time this season UNF will have faced the top-ranked team in the nation. Live audio and live stats will be available on UNFOspreys.com.
