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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of North Florida baseball team stayed alive in the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament with an impressive 13-2 victory over top seeded and nationally ranked Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday afternoon at Ken Dugan Field on the campus of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.

 

The victory was the worse loss for the Eagles since joining the Atlantic Sun Conference.  The win was the 11th victory in UNF history over a ranked opponent and the second this season.  Earlier this season, the Ospreys defeated No 7 Florida State, 3-1, at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville on April 6. 

 

The win was the 30th victory of the season for UNF, marking the 19th time in North Florida's 23-year history the Ospreys have recorded 30 wins in a season. 

 

Offensively, the Ospreys were in a groove, pounding out 19 hits in the game.  All nine batters in the UNF lineup recorded a hit in the game with six batters recording multiple hits in the game.  The first four batters in the UNF batting order combined for 10 hits in 19 at bats with nine runs scored and four RBI. 

 

Corey Bass, Preston Hale and Justin Preckajlo each had a home run apiece in the game, while David Eldredge added a double.  For Hale, the home run was his third of the tournament, while Preckajlo hit his team-leading 15th homer of the season. 

 

T.J. Thompson collected four hits and drove three to lead the offensive outburst.  Eldredge and Hale each had three hits each, while T.J. Gavlik, Preckajlo and Ryan Roberson each had a pair of hits apiece. 

 

George Lott threw a complete game as he held the potent Eagles to two runs on eight hits. His complete game represents the first in an A-Sun Championship game since Gardner-Webb's Ben Campbell threw one, in defeat, against Lipscomb on May 23, 2008.  The junior scattered eight hits over 9.0 innings of work.  He allowed just a pair of runs, walking five and striking out two. 

 

The Ospreys were the first team to score, plating two runs in the bottom of the first.  Gavlik led off the inning with a single to left field.  He advanced to second on a wild pitch.  The Eagles eliminated Gavlik on a fielder's choice.  With a runner on first, Hale singled to right field, leaving UNF with runners on first and second.  Eldredge put the Ospreys on the scoreboard with an RBI single to left center field.  Thompson delivered a two-out RBI single to right field for the second run of the inning and put UNF ahead 2-0. 

 

The Eagles cut the Ospreys' lead in half with one swing of the bat in the top of the third inning.  FGCU's Joe Guarnaccia led off the inning with a solo home run over the left field fence to trim the UNF lead to 2-1. 

 

North Florida extended its lead with a five-run fifth inning to go ahead 7-1.  With one out, Hale hit his third home run of the tournament, a solo shot to left field.  Eldredge doubled to continue the inning.  He moved to third on a ground out.  Thompson scored Eldredge with an RBI single up the middle.  Roberson walked to give UNF a pair of base runners.  Bass followed with his second home run of the season.  The freshman blasted a line drive home run that knocked the right fielder's glove over the wall as he tried to make a play on the ball. 

 

UNF added a run in both the fourth and the fifth innings.  With one out in the fourth, Preckajlo hit a deep fly ball to center field.  The FGCU center fielder jumped up in order to try to make the catch and flipped over the centerfield wall as Preckajlo recorded his team-leading 15th home run of the season. 

 

In the fifth, Michael Smith led off the inning with a single through the right side of the infield.  Roberson singled through the left side of the infield to give UNF a pair of base runners.  A fielder's choice left the Ospreys with runners on the corners with two outs.  Sam Perry singled up the middle to score Smith from third and give the Ospreys an 8-1 advantage. 

 

In the sixth inning, the Eagles scored a run to cut the UNF lead to 9-2, but four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning by the Ospresys cemented the lopsided victory.  In the eighth, North Florida pieced together five hits, en route to four runs to provide the final margin of victory of 13-2. 

 

North Florida continues play in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament with an elimination game against crosstown rival Jacksonville.  The Ospreys and Dolphins will meet on the diamond at 4 p.m. (ET) at Dugan Field.