GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team was edged in a midweek game on the road, 4-1, by No. 5 Florida on Wednesday night at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.
Offensively, the Ospreys (25-22) nearly matched the nationally ranked Gators (37-12), being edged in hits 8-to-7. Andrew Karmeris was one of six UNF batters in the lineup with a hit, leading all Ospreys with two. The junior finished the game 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Alex Hernandez, Corey Bass, Alex Bacon, Kyle Dahl and T.J. Gavlik each had hits in the game. Dahl drove in North Florida's only run of the game.
The game took just 2:07 despite the fact that the two teams combined to throw 14 pitchers. Each team tossed seven pitchers on the night.
Florida was the first team to score, plating a run in the bottom of the first inning. The Ospreys hit the first batter of the inning to give the Gators their first base runner of the night. The next batter singled up the middle. A fly ball out to center field allowed the lead runner to advance to third base and a second fly ball of the inning scored the runner on a sacrifice fly. The Ospreys used a third fly ball to end the inning, but trailed 1-0 after one complete inning of play.
The Gators added a run in the bottom of the third inning. A one out single started things for UF. The base runner stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. A ground out scored the second run of the game for Florida and a fly ball ended the inning.
The Ospreys cut the deficit in half with a run in the top of the sixth inning. A. Karmeris led off the inning with a double to left field. With two outs, Dahl singled down the left field line to score A. Karmeris from second and cut the UF lead to 2-1.
Florida answered in the bottom of the sixth inning with a pair of runs. With a runner on base because of a UNF error, UF's Austin Maddox homered to left field to increase the home team's advantage to 4-1.
Neither team was able to score in the final two and a half innings with the nationally ranked Gators prevailing.
North Florida returns to action over the weekend with a pivotal three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series against rival Kennesaw State at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Senior Day is scheduled for Sunday and the seniors will be honored before the game.
