STATESBORO, Ga. – The University of North Florida baseball team defeated Georgia Southern, 7-3, on Wednesday night at J.I. Clements Stadium in Statesboro, Ga. The Ospreys (20-14) jumped out to a 6-0 lead over the first five innings and never trailed as they picked up their first victory in Statesboro since 2006.
Offensively, the Ospreys recorded eight hits on the night. Four different players, Alex Bacon, Kyle Dahl, Andrew Karmeris and Shane Kennedy, had two hits apiece. Bacon finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored and a team-high three RBI. In addition to a pair of hits each, Karmeris and Kennedy both had a team-best two runs scored. Dahl had the only extra base hit of the game for North Florida, a double in the second inning.
On the mound, UNF used seven pitchers on the night, scattering seven hits – all singles. As a staff, the Ospreys fanned six batters while walking four.
Tommy Organ earned his fourth victory of the season in a controlled start. The sophomore worked 2.0 innings, allowing one hit and a walk with two strikeouts.
Chandler Jagodzinski and Evan Stermer each surrendered a home run in the game. Jagodzinski allowed a two-run homer, while Stermer gave up a solo shot. Jagodzinski fanned two batters while Stermer added a strikeout as neither pitcher issued a walk. Karmeris entered the game in relief to record the final two outs. He surrendered a hit and a walk in 0.2 innings of work.
North Florida was the first team to score, plating a run in the top of the first inning. Alex Hernandez led off the game with a walk. He moved to second on a passed ball by the Georgia Southern catcher. Hernandez advanced to third base on a ground out to second base. Karmeris scored Hernandez from third with an RBI groundout to second base to put the Ospreys in front 1-0.
The Ospreys added a run in the top of the second inning. Bacon was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Back-to-back ground outs to second base moved Bacon to third base. An RBI double down the left field line by Dahl scored the run and gave UNF a 2-0 advantage.
UNF scored a pair of runs in the top of the third inning to increase its lead to 4-0. With one out, Kennedy singled through the left side of the infield. He stole second base to move into scoring position. Karmeris singled to the shortstop to move Kennedy to third base. He came around to score on an RBI groundout by Stermer. Karmeris reached third courtesy of a balk by the GSU pitcher. Bacon singled to right field to score Karmeris and give the Ospreys a four-run cushion.
North Florida plated a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning to pad its lead. With one out, Kennedy singled to left field to start things off. He moved to second base thanks to a Karmeris single to left field. A ground out to first base moved the runners into scoring position. Bacon singled up the middle to plate both base runners and give UNF a 6-0 advantage.
Georgia Southern cut into the Ospreys lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. With a runner on base, Stryker Brown hit a two-run home run to cut the UNF lead to 6-2. GSU used a solo home run from Victor Roache in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the Ospreys' advantage in half at 6-3.
The Ospreys added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning. Tyler Marincov led off the inning with a walk. Dahl laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to second base. Marincov stole third base to move to within 90 feet of home. Sam Perry hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score the runner and push the UNF lead to 7-3, which the Ospreys would not relinquish.
North Florida returns to action over the weekend as the Ospreys host the Mercer Bears in a three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium.
