Boxscore | Postgame Interview (Tyler Marincov)
 
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team used three solo home runs and a solid pitching performance to earn a 3-2 victory over Mercer on Saturday afternoon at Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium to clinch a pivotal three-game Atlantic Sun Conference series. The Ospreys used homers by Drew Weeks, Paul Karmeris and Tyler Marincov to score three runs and that was enough as pitchers Michael Renner and Corbin Olmstead kept the Bears' bats at bay.
 
Offensively, North Florida recorded nine hits on the day, including three solo home runs. Weeks, who finished the game with a pair of hits, led off the fourth inning with a solo home run that tied the game at 1-1. P. Karmeris hit a solo homer in the fifth inning to give the Ospreys the lead, which they would not relinquish. Marincov, who finished the day with three hits, followed P. Karmeris with a solo home run, marking the second time this season North Florida hit back-to-back home runs.
 
On the mound, Renner earned his fifth win of the season and second in A-Sun play. The senior tied a season high with 7.2 innings pitched. Renner allowed two unearned runs on six hits. The southpaw allowed a pair of walks while striking out six batters. Renner gave way to Olmstead in the eighth inning. The true freshman worked 1.1 innings of scoreless ball to pick up his fifth save of the season and the second save of the series. Olmstead allowed a pair of base hits, but used three strikeouts to secure the victory.
 
Mercer was the first team to score, plating an unearned run in the top of the first inning. The Bears led off the inning with an infield single to second base. With one out, the runner advanced all the way to third on a failed pickoff attempt. Renner struck out the next batter, but an infield single allowed the run to score.
 
North Florida responded in the fourth inning. Weeks led off the inning with a solo home run to left field to tie the game at 1-1. For Weeks, the home run was his team-leading sixth of the year. The sophomore now has seven home runs in his career.
 
The Ospreys took the lead in the fifth inning with back-to-back homers. With one out, P. Karmeris hit a home run off of the top of the batting cages behind the left field fences. The home run was P. Karmeris' second of the season and the fourth of his Osprey career. UNF added an insurance run with the very next batter as Marincov belted his fourth home run of the season to left field. The home run was the junior's 18th of his career and gave North Florida a 3-1 advantage.
 
The fifth inning marked the second time this season that the Ospreys hit back-to-back home runs. Weeks and Marincov followed each other with home runs on the road against UCF on March 5.
 
The Bears pulled to within one with a run in the top of the eighth inning. With one out, Mercer placed a runner on base with a single to left field. Renner struck out the next batter for the second out. The next batter singled to first base, but on the play the throw to Renner who was covering first on the play was off the mark, allowing the lead runner to advance to third base. With runners on the corners and two outs, Mercer used an RBI single to left center field to close the gap to 3-2. Olmstead ended the inning with a strikeout to keep the Ospreys ahead by one.
 
In the ninth inning, Olmstead closed the door on any potential comeback. The freshman opened the frame with a strikeout and a pop up to second base. After surrendering a base hit, Olmstead ended the game with his third strikeout.
 
North Florida returns to action on Wednesday, April 10 with a midweek nonconference game against Florida A&M. The Ospreys and Rattlers take the field at 6:00 p.m. Live stats, live video and in-game tweets (@OspreyBSB) will be available throughout the game.