Boxscore
SAVANNAH, Ga. – The University of North Florida baseball team committed three errors that led to four unearned runs on Wednesday night, dropping a 4-1 decision on the road to Savannah State at Tiger Field in Savannah, Ga.
The Osprey pitching staff scattered just six hits on the night, surrendering four unearned runs.
Kyle Westwood earned the start for North Florida. The senior tossed 2.0 innings, allowing no runs on a pair of hits. He recorded two strikeouts with no walks in the no-decision.
Nick Allbritton took the hard-luck loss for the Ospreys. The senior surrendered two unearned runs on a pair of hits in 3.2 innings of work. After surrendering the unearned runs, Allbritton retired 10 consecutive batters.
Corbin Olmstead pitched the final 2.1 innings – a season high for the freshman reliever. The right-hander struck out a team-best three batters on the night, while giving up a pair of unearned runs on just two hits.
Offensively, North Florida recorded seven hits and drew eight walks. The Ospreys were unable to find timely hits, as UNF left a season-high 13 batters on base.
Ryan Roberson led the team with a pair of base hits.
Corey Bass drew three walks, while
Kyle Brooks and
Tyler Marincov each had a pair of free passes. Bass scored the only run of the game for North Florida and
Joe Wielbruda provided the Ospreys' only extra base hit – a double in the fifth inning.
North Florida was the first team to score, plating a run in the top of the third inning. Bass led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Wielbruda. Bass moved to within 90 feet of home on a groundout. With two outs, Marincov walked to give UNF runners on the corners. Roberson reached base on a fielding error by Savannah State. On the play, Bass came around to score, giving the Ospreys a 1-0 advantage.
Savannah State responded in the bottom of the inning. Back-to-back singles gave the home team a pair of base runners. The Tigers advanced the runners with a sacrifice fly. The next batter grounded a ball to third base. The Ospreys attempted to erase the lead runner, but an errant throw allowed Savannah State to score the tying run and leave a pair of base runners in scoring position. The next batter drove in a run on a groundout, giving the home team a 2-1 lead. The Ospreys prevented any further runs from scoring as a fly ball ended the inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Ospreys looked to have tied the score on one swing of the bat. Roberson drove a ball to the fence that looked to have tied the game, but Savannah State's left fielder robbed Roberson of the potential game-tying home run, leaving the game at 2-1.
The Tigers added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. After a leadoff single, SSU sacrificed the runner over to second base. With two outs, the Tigers used an error by the Ospreys to score an insurance run and push the score to 3-1.
Savannah State scored an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Tigers started the inning with a bunt single. The runner moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. A fly ball to left field looked to be the second out of the inning, but the ball was dropped, allowing the run to score. A strikeout and a ground out ended the inning, leaving the run unearned.
In the final inning, the Ospreys were able to get a runner on board by way of a walk, but were unable to tie the game, falling 4-1 on the road.
North Florida returns to Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium for a three-game nonconference series with the Lafayette Leopards. The series begins on Friday, March 15, at 6:00 p.m. and continues with a game on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. (Note: Sunday's game time has changed to NOON). Live stats, ASun.TV and in-game tweets (@OspreyBSB) will be available for each game.
