UNF to Play in the South Alabama Classic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team will travel to Mobile, Ala. for the 2010 South Alabama Classic, hosted by the University of South Alabama. The Ospreys take on No. 27 Wichita State at 2:00 p.m., on Friday, Feb. 26, South Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 2:00 p.m. and Eastern Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 28 at Noon.

North Florida went 1-2 on opening weekend falling to No. 14 Ohio State and Richmond, while picking up its first win of the season against Florida A&M as the Ospreys hosted the North Florida Classic. UNF was supposed to take on in-state rival Florida State on Wednesday, Feb. 24, but the game has been rescheduled due to inclement weather in Tallahassee, Fla. The game has been postponed until Wednesday, March 10 at 4 p.m.

The 2010 season marks the end of an era at North Florida as ABCA Hall of Fame Coach Dusty Rhodes will retire after this year. The 2010 season also happens to mark the first year that the Ospreys are eligible for postseason play as full Division I members, having finished the four-year reclassification period.

Offensively, North Florida is led by juniors Robbie Collier and Andrew Hannon, as well as, seniors David Eldredge and Preston Hale. Collier is batting .500, going 3-for-6 with five runs, an RBI and three walks. Eldredge is batting .455 (5-for-11) with two runs scored, two RBI, a walk and a double, while Hale and Hannon are each batting .333.

The game against Wichita State will be the first of the season for the Shockers. The baseball season opener between Wichita State and Kansas was cancelled due to snow. The Shockers were 30-27 a year ago. WSU will start the season on the arm of right handed pitcher Tim Kelley. Last season, Kelley was 5-4 overall with a 2.86 ERA in 14 games. He threw three complete games with a shutout to his credit. Kelley led the Shockers with 102 total strikeouts with just 22 walks in 94.1 innings.

South Alabama enters the tournament 2-2 after last weekend. The Jaguars swept Jackson State by scoring 22 combined runs in the doubleheader, before falling to Alabama in consecutive days. USA junior Taylor White leads the Jags at the plate with a .667 batting average. The Jackson, Ala., native ranks first in average, hits (8), runs (6), doubles (2) and on-base percentage (.692). White has hit safely in all four of USA's games this season, and has recorded multiple hits in three of those four. Jaguar right-handers D.D. Hanks and Garrett Harris earned wins in their first starts of the season last Friday. Hanks went 6.0 innings in game one against Jackson State, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out four. Harris pitched 6.0 shutout innings in game two against Jackson State, and allowed only four hits while striking out four batters.

Coming off a split doubleheader against the No. 25 Kansas Jayhawks on Feb. 22, in the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn., the Eastern Michigan baseball team now treks south for the South Alabama Classic. Originally scheduled to be a three-game series in Lawrence, Kan., the Eagles opened the 2010 season at the Metrodome in Minneapolis against the No. 25 ranked Kansas Jayhawks for a doubleheader, Feb. 22. EMU claimed a 3-1 victory in game one behind a stellar performance from junior ace Corey Chaffins, but dropped game two, 9-5, after costly walks late in the game proved to be too much to overcome. EMU has never faced the North Florida Ospreys, but the team has an all-time mark of 1-2 against tournament host South Alabama and a 0-1 record against the Shockers from Wichita State. The last time EMU and South Alabama met was Feb. 29, 1992, when the Jaguars topped the Eagles, 13-3. The only meeting between EMU and Wichita State was March 4, 1991, and the Shockers came away with a 6-1 win.

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