Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida baseball team put a picture-perfect ending to its weekend with a doubleheader sweep of Belmont on Saturday at Harmon Stadium.
Led by senior RHP John Frawley's lights out, complete game shutout, UNF (8-15, 3-6 Atlantic Sun Conference) took game one 3-0. The Ospreys' bats exploded with firepower in the second game to lead them to an 11-5 victory. Four UNF players had multiple-hit games, while three Ospreys had more than one RBI in game two.
UNF's win in the first contest was the first time this season it shut out an opponent and the first time in Frawley's career he had pitched a shutout. He tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts, marking the first time an Ospreys had fanned that many batters since Brad Johnson did so against Campbell on April 6, 2007. It was also the first complete game shutout by an Osprey since March 2, 2005 when Ryan Amason accomplished that feat.
Junior TJ Thompson helped UNF get out to a 1-0 advantage in game one with a home run to right field on a 2-2 pitch from Belmont's Tyler Graskewicz. After a silent fourth, fifth and sixth, the Ospreys gave themselves more breathing room in the bottom of the seventh when sophomore Sam Perry smashed an RBI double to left center that drove in Thompson.
Thompson gave UNF more insurance in the eighth when his RBI double to left allowed redshirt freshman Andrew Karmeris to score. It proved to be more than enough for Frawley in the top of the ninth, who put the Bruins down in order. He put an exclamation on his performance when he got Belmont's Matt Zeblo with a called third strike to end the game.
Game two looked very similar to the first affair in the early going with RHP Phil Rorabaugh having the hot hand. Through the first five innings, he struck out six Bruins and allowed just two hits as he pitched shutout ball.
After getting the first out in the top of the sixth, Rorabaugh ran into a bit of trouble when he gave up a solo home run to Belmont's Dylan Craig, followed by two-straight walks. The walks set up an RBI double by Belmont's Brandon McCall, which tied the game at two.
The Bruins (12-10, 6-3) went ahead on an RBI groundout by Daniel Wagner. Following a Rorabaugh walk to Belmont's Matt Zeblo, senior RHP Antonio Franzese came on in relief, who ended the inning with a strikeout.
After Franzese shut down Belmont in the top of the sixth, UNF brought out the dynamite and ignited for seven runs to take a 9-3 lead. It all got started when sophomore Michael Smith pounded single up the middle to drive in sophomore Robbie Collier.
Following a bases-loaded walk to junior Justin Preckajlo, Karmeris was able to leg it out at first and reach on a fielder's choice to allow Smith to score. All of it culminated in a climactic grand slam home run by junior Kevin Martin, who crushed his second homer of the season and first career bases-clearing round tripper.
Preckajlo tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth with a sacrifice fly, which allowed senior Brian Wilson to cross the plate. Thompson capped the scoring with a single through the right side for his third RBI of the day, giving UNF an 11-3 lead.
Belmont got two runs in the ninth, but senior RHP Spencer Jones closed the game out by getting McCall to ground out to Thompson at second. It was UNF's largest margin of victory in a conference game this season.
Franzese (1-0) notched the win after tossing 1.1 hitless innings of relief. Smith finished a perfect 3-for- 3 at the plate with two runs scored and two RBIs. The victory in game two gave the Ospreys their 550th win at Harmon Stadium.
UNF will return to action at 7 p.m. on Tuesday when it hosts No. 25 Florida at Harmon Stadium in what is being billed as the most anticipated sporting event in UNF campus history. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $8 at the UNF Arena Box Office on Monday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or by calling (904) 620-BIRD. The game will be broadcast live on WBOB- AM 1320 in Jacksonville and will be shown on ASun.TV.
