Baseball Evens Series Behind Excellent Effort on Mound

Friday, April 6

Johnson City, Tenn.

7:05 p.m.

University of North Florida

East Tennessee State

4/6/2012 9:30:00 PM | Baseball

By: North Florida Athletics

Boxscore

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The University of North Florida baseball team used recorded a season-high 14 strikeouts on the night to hold the East Tennessee State hitters at bay as the Ospreys recorded a 5-2 victory on Friday night in the first game ever under the lights at Thomas Stadium in Johnson City, Tenn.

On the mound, Kyle Westwood picked up his third victory of the season. The junior scattered five hits in 6.2 innings of work, allowing a pair of runs. Westwood set a career high with 10 strikeouts while walking just one. During one stretch, he recorded four consecutive strikeouts, tying for the most this season by any Osprey pitcher.

He was relieved by Evan Stermer, who fanned a batter in his 0.1 inning of work. The senior earned the hold as he kept the Buccaneers off the scoreboard. Chandler Jagodzinski worked the final 2.0 innings. The sidewinder did not allow a hit, while striking out three en route to his second save of the season.

The Ospreys pounded out 10 hits on the night, including four extra base hits. Andrew Karmeris finished the game with a pair of hits, including his fourth home run of the season and his 11th double of the year. Tyler Marincov and Joe Wielbruda each had doubles in the game. T.J. Gavlik, Evan Stermer and Wielbruda each had two hits on the night. Chris Carter and A. Karmeris each led the team with two RBI in the game, while A. Karmeris led all hitters with two runs scored.

North Florida was the first team to score, plating a run on one swing of the bat in the top of the first inning. A. Karmeris wasted little time jumping on the second pitch he saw and driving it over the left field wall for this fourth home run of the season. The homer was the senior's 27th of his career.

The Ospreys added a pair of runs in the top of the third inning. Gavlik led off the inning with a single to left field. He came around to score as A. Karmeris doubled to right center field. A. Karmeris moved to third base on a ground out. Marincov drove home the elder Karmeris with a RBI double down the left field line to give UNF a 3-0 advantage.

The Buccaneers chipped into the Ospreys lead in the bottom of the third inning. Westwood retired the first two batters, but an inside pitch hit the next batter to give ETSU a base runner. The runner stole second base and a single to left field plated the runner. North Florida used a ground out to end the inning leading, 3-1.

UNF added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning. Stermer led off the inning with a single through the right side, but was erased on a fielder's choice that left Alex Bacon on first. Wielbruda doubled down the left field line to give the Ospreys a pair of runners in scoring position. Carter singled up the middle to drive home the two base runners and give North Florida a 5-1 advantage.

ETSU cut into the Ospreys lead with a run in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, the Buccaneers caught a lucky break as a ball bounced off of first base to allow the runner to reach safely with an infield single. The following batter doubled down the left field line to score the runner on first and cut the lead to 5-2. Stermer moved from designated hitter to pitcher and helped the Ospreys escape the inning with an inning-ending strikeout.

Jagodzinski sat the Buccaneers down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the win for the Ospreys and earn his second save of the season.

North Florida and ETSU conclude the three-game A-Sun series with a single game on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. at Thomas Stadium. Live Stats and in-game Tweets (@UNFOspreys) will be available throughout the game.