Boxscore - Game 1
Boxscore - Game 2
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team picked up a pair of victories over USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium. The Ospreys (19-15, 8-3 Atlantic Sun) won game one against the Spartans (9-26, 1-13 A-Sun) 16-3 in seven innings and won the second game with a 14-0 shutout.
The game one victory was number 1,200 for Hall of Fame head coach Dusty Rhodes in his career. Rhodes is currently two wins shy of 900 victories at North Florida (898).
“We scored some runs today and were able to swing the bats,” Rhodes commented after the game. “[George] Lott did really well for us and then [Michael] Kelly going the distance puts us in a really good position heading into tomorrow's game. Now, we have the rest of our pitching staff to try to win one ballgame. That could be a big game before the season is over. We have to come out and play well tomorrow.”
On the day, North Florida scored 30 runs on 41 hits, including seven doubles, a triple and four home runs. Every player for the Ospreys that stepped into the batters box recorded a base hit. North Florida scored a run in 10 of the 14 innings in which the Ospreys batted. Conversely, the UNF pitching staff held Upstate to three runs on 19 hits in 16 innings.
Kyle Dahl led the Ospreys offensively day. The junior finished the day 6-for-8 (.750) with a double and a home run. Dahl scored a team-best six runs while driving in five more runs. He boasted a 1.250 slugging percentage with a .778 on-base percentage. Dahl had three hits in each game, scoring three runs in each game with two RBI in game one and three RBI in game two. Dahl raised his batting average 78 points on the day, starting the day with a .208 average and finishing the day with a .286 mark.
Junior Michael Smith also had six hits on the day, finishing the afternoon 6-for-9 (.667) with a double and a home run. Preston Hale, T.J. Gavlik and Sam Perry each had five hits apiece on the day. Hale and Justin Preckajlo each added home runs on the day.
Starting pitcher George Lott earned the win in the first game. He worked a complete game 7.0 innings, scattering nine hits. Lott surrendered three runs, walking one and striking out four. He retired the first five batters he faced and 12 of the first 13 batters to step to the plate.
In game two, Michael Kelly picked up the win tossing his second complete game shutout of the season. He worked a complete game shutout at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville against crosstown rival JU on March 20. Kelly scattered 10 hits in 9.0 innings of work. He struck out seven batters while walking only one.
Game 1 Recap
The Ospreys took the lead in game one with three runs in the first inning. Smith led off the game with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a fielding error by the Upstate center fielder. Gavlik followed with an RBI double to left center field to give UNF a 1-0 advantage. Hale continued the offensive attack with a bounding single over the head of the Spartans' pitcher. With runners on the corners, UNF hit into a double play, but Gavlik scored on the play to increase the lead to two. Preckajlo kept the inning going drawing a free pass and moving to second on a wild pitch. David Eldredge plated Preckajlo with an RBI single up the middle to give the hosts a 3-0 lead after one inning.
UNF added a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. Dahl led off the inning with a single to right center field. Sam Perry followed with a double down the left field line. With one out, Gavlik plated Dahl with a sacrifice fly to center field. Hale scored Perry from second base with an RBI single down the right field line to give UNF a 5-0 advantage.
North Florida scored three more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Preckajlo started off the inning with triple down the right field line. He came in to score on a wild pitch. Eldredge singled through the right side of the infield and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Dahl singled up the middle to score Eldredge. Perry followed with a single to right field, moving Dahl to third base. With runners on the corners, Smith scored Dahl with a sacrifice fly to increase the UNF advantage to 8-0.
The Ospreys broke the game wide open with eight runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. UNF scored eight runs on seven hits, highlighted by a three-run home run to right center field by Hale. The eight runs were the most scored in a single inning by the Ospreys this season and gave North Florida a 16-0 advantage.
USC Upstate scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning and a single run in the sixth to cut into the North Florida lead, but would get no closer as UNF won the game 16-3 in run-rule fashion.
Game 2 Recap
UNF scored first in the second game, plating a run in bottom of the first. Smith reached base on an error and moved to third on a base hit by Gavlik. A fielder's choice by Hale scored Smith from third and gave the Ospreys the quick 1-0 lead after one inning of play.
The Ospreys increased their lead to 4-0 with three runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh inning. The inning was highlighted by a two-run homer by Smith. An RBI single by Andrew Karmeris scored the final run of the inning.
North Florida used a two-run home run from Preckajlo to increase its lead to 6-0 after four innings. The home run was Preckajlo's seventh of the season, tying him with T.J. Thompson for the team lead.
UNF added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. RBI singles by Smith and Gavlik scored the first two runs of the inning and Gavlik came around to score on a wild pitch.
The Ospreys scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a commanding 12-0 lead. Dahl belted a three-run home run to left field to provide the offense for the inning.
UNF added two runs in the eighth inning. The Ospreys plated two runs on five hits to provide the final margin of victory, 14-0.
North Florida and USC Upstate will conclude the three-game series with a single game on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium.
