JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team opened a three-game home Atlantic Sun Conference series with Mercer with a 7-5 victory on Friday night at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium.
The Ospreys improved to 21-14 overall and 11-8 in the A-Sun, while the Bears fell to 23-14 overall and 8-10 in conference play.
Offensively, North Florida collected 12 hits on the day, including a pair of doubles and two solo home runs. UNF had five players record a pair of hits on the day led by Alex Bacon and Andrew Karmeris who each had a pair of hits with a solo home run apiece. Shane Kennedy and Michael Smith each added doubles on day. Karmeris and Kennedy each scored two runs apiece on the night to lead the Ospreys, while Bacon and Tyler Marincov led the team with two RBI each.
On the mound, Robbie Collier picked up his third victory of the season. The senior tossed 7.0 innings, scattering five hits. He was charged with four runs on the night. Collier walked four batters while striking out seven. After surrendering a home run in the first inning, the southpaw retired the next 10 consecutive batters in order.
Collier gave way to Casey Medlen in the eighth inning. The hurler surrendered one run on one hit in 2.0 innings of work. Medlen did not issue a walk and struck out three batters for his first save of the season.
Mercer was the first team to score, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. The Bears led off the game with a walk. After an out, Mercer's Jacob Tanis hit a home run over the left field wall to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage. The Ospreys used a groundout and a strikeout to escape the inning without any further damage.
North Florida responded with three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take the lead. With one out, Corey Bass singled up the middle to start things off for the Ospreys. Karmeris followed with a single through the left side of the infield. With two runners on base and two outs, Kennedy doubled to left field. On the play, Bass came around to score, cutting the deficit to just one. Marincov followed with a two-RBI single to right field to score Karmeris and Kennedy and give UNF a 3-2 advantage.
The Ospreys added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Bacon led off the inning with a solo home run to left field. The true freshman lifted the first pitch he saw over the batting cages behind the left field wall for his team-leading eighth home run of the season.
UNF added a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to extend the Osprey lead to 6-2. Karmeris led off the inning with his seventh home run of the season. Kennedy singled with one out and advanced to second on a ground out. Smith doubled to right center field to score Kennedy and push the UNF advantage to four runs.
Mercer pulled to within one run with three runs in the top of the eighth inning. Back-to-back singles started off the inning and a home run by the Bears' Austin Barrett cut the UNF lead to one run at 6-5.
The Ospreys added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning. With one out, Alex Hernandez singled through the left side of the infield. Bass followed with a single to third base. Karmeris loaded the bases with a walk. Bacon followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to give UNF a 7-5 lead.
North Florida and Mercer return to the diamond for the second game of the series on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium.
