Boxscore

 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team dropped the first game of a three-game series to East Tennessee State by a score of 6-3 on Friday night at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium.

 

On the mound, senior Casey Medlen took the loss despite having a solid outing.  Medlen scattered nine hits in 7.0 innings of work.  He surrendered four runs, but recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts on the night.

 

Clayton Schulz and Chandler Jagodzinski pitched the final two innings.  Schulz worked 1.0 inning with a walk and a strikeout, while Jagodzinski tossed 1.0 with a walk and two unearned runs. 

 

Offensively, North Florida recorded seven hits on the night.  Kyle Dahl led the way for the Ospreys, going 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.  Sam Perry and Alex Hernandez each had RBI singles, while Andrew Hannon added an RBI groundout.  Dahl, Perry and Alex Bacon all scored runs on the night. 

 

East Tennessee State was the first team to score, plating a run in the top of the first inning.  ETSU led off the game with a single and hit by pitch moved the lead runner into scoring position.  An RBI single scored the runner from second base and put the Ospreys behind 1-0. 

 

The Buccaneers added a run in the top of the second inning.  Back-to-back singles started things off for ETSU.  The runners advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt.  East Tennessee State was able to score the lead runner on a sacrifice fly to left field, pushing its lead to 2-0. 

 

ETSU increased its lead to 4-0 with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning.  With one out, consecutive singles gave the Bucs a pair of base runners.  A triple to left center field allowed two runs to score. 

 

North Florida cut into the Buccaneers lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning.  With one out, Perry hit his second home run of the season.  The solo home run to center field cut the deficit to 4-1. 

 

The Ospreys added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, cutting the ETSU lead to 4-3.  Dahl led off the inning with a double down the left field line.  Bacon followed with a single to the shortstop, but advanced to second on a throwing error by the Bucs.  With a runner on second and third, Hannon recorded an RBI groundout to score the lead runner.  With two outs, Hernandez came through with an RBI single up the middle cutting the margin to just one run. 

 

The Buccaneers added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning.  A double started things off for ETSU and a throwing error by UNF allowed the lead runner to score and left East Tennessee State a runner on second with no outs.  A sacrifice bunt moved the runner to third base.  After an intentional walk, a deep foul out allowed the runner on third to score on the sacrifice fly, giving ETSU a 6-3 lead from which the Ospreys could not overcome. 

 

North Florida and East Tennessee State will continue play on Saturday, March 12, at 1:00 p.m. with a single game at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium.