Boxscore
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida renamed the field at Harmon Stadium before the game and then the baseball team won a 10-9 game over Alcorn State on Saturday afternoon.
Prior to the game, the UNF Athletics department honored head coach Dusty Rhodes by naming the field after the Hall of Fame coach. The new official name of UNF's baseball complex will now be called Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium.
“That happens because teams win not because I am a better coach,” Rhodes stated after the game of the field dedication. “It should be in their name and not mine. It has been a great ride. I really enjoyed having all of these come back today, John Delany and President Herbert and the people in the Osprey Club. None of this could've happened if they hadn't helped us when they did. Without them nothing would have happened here. Hopefully, we can finish up this season and have a pretty good year.”
Rhodes started UNF's program from scratch at the NAIA level in 1988. He took that opportunity and built it into a national powerhouse en route to becoming one of the most successful coaches in college baseball history.
Rhodes has guided UNF to 16 postseason appearances, including five trips to the College World Series (two in NAIA and three in NCAA Division II). In January of 2009, he was chosen by his peers to be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
After the preseason presentation, the current UNF baseball team took the field and battled Alcorn State for nine innings to pick up the 10-9 victory.
Offensively for the Ospreys, seniors Preston Hale and Justin Preckajlo led the way with four hits apiece. Hale finished 4-for-4 with two RBI, three runs scored, a double and a walk, while Preckajlo was 4-for-5 with a home run, a run scored and three RBI.
On the mound, junior Robbie Collier picked up his second victory of the season. He tossed 1.2 innings, a run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Collier was the fourth pitcher of the day for UNF. Starting pitcher John Atteo had a solid outing, working 6.0 innings. He scattered four hits, surrendering three runs, although no earned runs. Atteo walked just one and struck out three.
North Florida was the first team to scratch the scoreboard. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Hale led off the inning with a double to left center field. A fielding error by Alcorn State allowed Andrew Karmeris to reach base and Hale to move to third. With runners on the corners, David Eldredge delivered an RBI single through the left side of the infield. A double play recorded the first two outs of the inning, but with a runner on base T.J. Thompson sent a ball over the right field fence for his first home run of the season. The two-run homer gave the Ospreys a 3-0 lead.
Alcorn State responded with two runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the UNF advantage to just one. A single and a fielding error left the visiting team with two runners on base. A sacrifice bunt left the Braves with runners on second and third. ASU got a sacrifice fly to left field to score the first run of the inning and a second error in the inning allowed the second run to score.
UNF answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Hale led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a one-out single by Eldredge. Preckajlo doubled to right field to score Hale from second. A fielder's choice and an error allowed Eldredge to come across and score to give the hosts a 5-2 advantage.
The Braves scored a run in the top of the sixth inning to cut the Ospreys lead to 5-3, but used a four-run seventh inning to take a lead. In the seventh, Alcorn state scored four runs on four hits, including a home run to take a 7-5 lead.
The Ospreys cut the lead in half on one swing as Preckajlo homered to left field. The home run was Preckajlo's third of the season.
Leading 7-6, Alcorn State scored a run on two hits and a UNF error in the eighth inning to go ahead 8-6, but the Ospreys responded by taking the lead with a four-run eighth inning.
In the eighth inning, Sam Perry started things off with a bloop single into center field. Andrew Hannon followed with a single through the left side of the infield. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. Hale tied the score with a two-RBI single to center field. Karmeris kept the rally going with a single down the left field line that advanced Hale to third. With runners on the corners, Eldredge reached on a fielder's choice, but the ground ball was good enough to score Hale from third and give UNF the lead. Karmeris was safe on the play because of an error by the Braves. With two runners on and one out, Preckajlo singled through the left side of the infield and Karmeris was able to score from second and give the Ospreys a 10-8 advantage heading into the final inning.
The insurance run in the eighth proved to be big as Alcorn State rallied with a two-out solo home run in the top of the ninth. With the tying run on second base, Collier slammed the door shut with a strikeout to end the game.
North Florida returns to action with a pair of games on Sunday. The Ospreys take on the Braves in an 11 a.m. game before playing an afternoon game against Wagner at 3 p.m.
