Thursday, May 23
DeLand, Fla.
10:00 a.m.
University of North Florida
vs
Lipscomb
Ospreys Head to DeLand for A-Sun Tournament
5/21/2013 1:35:00 PM | Baseball
Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Audio
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida is set to make its second appearance in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. The tournament begins on Wednesday and the Ospreys, the No. 3 seed, will take on the sixth seeded Lipscomb Bisons in the first round. The Ospreys and Bisons will take the field in the fourth game of the tournament set to begin at 8:15 p.m. at Melching Field in DeLand, Fla.
Live stats, live video, live audio and in-game tweets (@OspreyBSB) will be available throughout the tournament. Voice of the Ospreys, Robert Harper, will handle the play-by-play duties. Fans can listen online at www.1010xl.com or download the 1010xl and/or 92.5 FM apps for their smart phones and/or tablets.
North Florida (38-17, 18-9 A-Sun) is making its first appearance in the A-Sun Championship since 2010 when the Ospreys made their tournament debut after being ineligible for the tournament due to the NCAA Reclassification to full Division I status. That year, North Florida went 1-2 as the No. 4 seed with a win against No. 28 Florida Gulf Coast.
Lipscomb (24-32, 13-14 A-Sun) is making its first appearance in the A-Sun Championship since 2009, when the Bisons went to the title game and fell to Jacksonville, 7-4. The Bisons enter the conference tournament as the six seed.
Mercer is the top seed in the tournament followed by Florida Gulf Coast. North Florida is the three seed and East Tennessee State rounds out the top half of the seeds. Tournament-host Stetson is the five seed. Lipscomb, Kennesaw State and USC Upstate round out the seeding of the eight-team double elimination tourmanet.
North Florida' Corey Bass and Tyler Marincov were both named First Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference, as announced by the league office on Tuesday, May 21, while Joe Wielbruda, Kyle Brooks, Donnie Dewees and Michael Renner were all named to the Second Team. Corbin Olmstead joined Dewees and Brooks on the A-Sun All-Freshman team. Olmstead and Dewees were both unanimous selections to the All-Freshman team. In addition, Renner and Evan Incinelli were both named to the 2013 Atlantic Sun Baseball Academic All-Conference team.
The Ospreys are the top-hitting team in the A-Sun this season with a team batting average of .322 overall, which ranks third-best in the nation. The Ospreys are batting .337 in conference play, which also leads the A-Sun. The Ospreys 3.21 team ERA is also best in the conference. UNF is the first team since Mercer in 2011 to lead the league in ERA and batting average.
The Bisons' Josh Cotham, who will start against the Ospreys, has hurled complete games in two of his last three contests with a 1-0 shutout of Northern Kentucky on May 3rd and a near shutout of Kennesaw State (6-1) on May 16th. North Florida will counter with senior Kyle Westwood. The Tarpon Springs, Fla. native has a 3-1 record with a 4.22 ERA in 53.1 innings pitched. Despite missing time with an injury, Westwood leads the Ospreys with 64 strikeouts.
North Florida is 12-9 (.571) against the tournament field this season and 127-106 (.545) against the seven teams all-time.
Scouting the Opposition:
No. 1 Mercer:
The Ospreys are 12-9 (.571) all-time against the Bears, winning a pair of games this season against Mercer in Jacksonville. Mercer won the opening game of the series, before North Florida won the series with back-to-back victories.
No. 2 Florida Gulf Coast:
The Eagles hold a 14-6 (.700) advantage in the all-time series. The Ospreys have not won a three-game series with FGCU in program history. North Florida defeated FGCU in its only other A-Sun Championship appearance in 2010, defeating the 28th-ranked Eagles 13-2.
No. 4 East Tennessee State
The Buccaneers hold a slight 13-12 (.520) edge in the all-time series. The Ospreys claimed the 2013 series with the Bucs in Jacksonville, winning 2-1. ETSU was the first team that UNF played in the 2010 A-Sun Championship. Despite two home runs by All-Atlantic Sun performer Preston Hale (2007-10), the Ospreys dropped a 7-5 decision.
No. 5 Stetson
The Hatters are 20-14 (.588) against the Ospreys all-time and were one of two A-Sun series losses in 2013 for the Ospreys. North Florida led 4-3 in the eighth inning before giving up six runs in the bottom of the eighth to drop the first game. Freshman of the Year Patrick Mazeika hit a walk-off home run to give the Hatters a series victory. Renner followed with a complete game shutout in game three for the Ospreys.
No. 6 Lipscomb
The Ospreys are 15-9 (.625) all-time against opening-round opponent Lipscomb, winning two of three this season in Nashville. The Ospreys, who opened the conference series against LU, won the first two games of the series with the Bisons before dropping an extra-inning contest on Sunday. The Friday night win was the first A-Sun opener the Ospreys have won in the Smoke Laval Era.
No. 7 Kennesaw State
The Ospreys have faced Kennesaw State more than any other team in their history, squaring off against the Owls 69 times. North Florida has a long history against Kennesaw State, dating back to the inaugural season in 1988. The Ospreys and Owls have played against each other every year in program history except a six-year span from 1992 to 1997. In addition, UNF and KSU have met nine different years against each other in the postseason.
No. 8 USC Upstate
North Florida holds a 34-6 (.850) advantage over USC Upstate in the all-time series. The Ospreys opened the final series of the regular season with a pair of victories over the Spartans, but on the final day of the regular season, Upstate used a ninth inning rally to post a 4-3 walk-off win and secure a spot in the 2013 A-Sun Championships. North Florida opened the all-time series with USC Upstate with 22 consecutive victories.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida is set to make its second appearance in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament. The tournament begins on Wednesday and the Ospreys, the No. 3 seed, will take on the sixth seeded Lipscomb Bisons in the first round. The Ospreys and Bisons will take the field in the fourth game of the tournament set to begin at 8:15 p.m. at Melching Field in DeLand, Fla.
Live stats, live video, live audio and in-game tweets (@OspreyBSB) will be available throughout the tournament. Voice of the Ospreys, Robert Harper, will handle the play-by-play duties. Fans can listen online at www.1010xl.com or download the 1010xl and/or 92.5 FM apps for their smart phones and/or tablets.
North Florida (38-17, 18-9 A-Sun) is making its first appearance in the A-Sun Championship since 2010 when the Ospreys made their tournament debut after being ineligible for the tournament due to the NCAA Reclassification to full Division I status. That year, North Florida went 1-2 as the No. 4 seed with a win against No. 28 Florida Gulf Coast.
Lipscomb (24-32, 13-14 A-Sun) is making its first appearance in the A-Sun Championship since 2009, when the Bisons went to the title game and fell to Jacksonville, 7-4. The Bisons enter the conference tournament as the six seed.
Mercer is the top seed in the tournament followed by Florida Gulf Coast. North Florida is the three seed and East Tennessee State rounds out the top half of the seeds. Tournament-host Stetson is the five seed. Lipscomb, Kennesaw State and USC Upstate round out the seeding of the eight-team double elimination tourmanet.
North Florida' Corey Bass and Tyler Marincov were both named First Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference, as announced by the league office on Tuesday, May 21, while Joe Wielbruda, Kyle Brooks, Donnie Dewees and Michael Renner were all named to the Second Team. Corbin Olmstead joined Dewees and Brooks on the A-Sun All-Freshman team. Olmstead and Dewees were both unanimous selections to the All-Freshman team. In addition, Renner and Evan Incinelli were both named to the 2013 Atlantic Sun Baseball Academic All-Conference team.
The Ospreys are the top-hitting team in the A-Sun this season with a team batting average of .322 overall, which ranks third-best in the nation. The Ospreys are batting .337 in conference play, which also leads the A-Sun. The Ospreys 3.21 team ERA is also best in the conference. UNF is the first team since Mercer in 2011 to lead the league in ERA and batting average.
The Bisons' Josh Cotham, who will start against the Ospreys, has hurled complete games in two of his last three contests with a 1-0 shutout of Northern Kentucky on May 3rd and a near shutout of Kennesaw State (6-1) on May 16th. North Florida will counter with senior Kyle Westwood. The Tarpon Springs, Fla. native has a 3-1 record with a 4.22 ERA in 53.1 innings pitched. Despite missing time with an injury, Westwood leads the Ospreys with 64 strikeouts.
North Florida is 12-9 (.571) against the tournament field this season and 127-106 (.545) against the seven teams all-time.
Scouting the Opposition:
No. 1 Mercer:
The Ospreys are 12-9 (.571) all-time against the Bears, winning a pair of games this season against Mercer in Jacksonville. Mercer won the opening game of the series, before North Florida won the series with back-to-back victories.
No. 2 Florida Gulf Coast:
The Eagles hold a 14-6 (.700) advantage in the all-time series. The Ospreys have not won a three-game series with FGCU in program history. North Florida defeated FGCU in its only other A-Sun Championship appearance in 2010, defeating the 28th-ranked Eagles 13-2.
No. 4 East Tennessee State
The Buccaneers hold a slight 13-12 (.520) edge in the all-time series. The Ospreys claimed the 2013 series with the Bucs in Jacksonville, winning 2-1. ETSU was the first team that UNF played in the 2010 A-Sun Championship. Despite two home runs by All-Atlantic Sun performer Preston Hale (2007-10), the Ospreys dropped a 7-5 decision.
No. 5 Stetson
The Hatters are 20-14 (.588) against the Ospreys all-time and were one of two A-Sun series losses in 2013 for the Ospreys. North Florida led 4-3 in the eighth inning before giving up six runs in the bottom of the eighth to drop the first game. Freshman of the Year Patrick Mazeika hit a walk-off home run to give the Hatters a series victory. Renner followed with a complete game shutout in game three for the Ospreys.
No. 6 Lipscomb
The Ospreys are 15-9 (.625) all-time against opening-round opponent Lipscomb, winning two of three this season in Nashville. The Ospreys, who opened the conference series against LU, won the first two games of the series with the Bisons before dropping an extra-inning contest on Sunday. The Friday night win was the first A-Sun opener the Ospreys have won in the Smoke Laval Era.
No. 7 Kennesaw State
The Ospreys have faced Kennesaw State more than any other team in their history, squaring off against the Owls 69 times. North Florida has a long history against Kennesaw State, dating back to the inaugural season in 1988. The Ospreys and Owls have played against each other every year in program history except a six-year span from 1992 to 1997. In addition, UNF and KSU have met nine different years against each other in the postseason.
No. 8 USC Upstate
North Florida holds a 34-6 (.850) advantage over USC Upstate in the all-time series. The Ospreys opened the final series of the regular season with a pair of victories over the Spartans, but on the final day of the regular season, Upstate used a ninth inning rally to post a 4-3 walk-off win and secure a spot in the 2013 A-Sun Championships. North Florida opened the all-time series with USC Upstate with 22 consecutive victories.
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