#BSB Hits the Road for Showdown with No. 20 Florida

North Florida at No. 20 Florida
Date/Time	Wednesday, February, 19, 2014 \| 7:00 p.m.
Stadium	McKethan Stadium at Perry Field.
Location	Gainesville, Fla.
Radio	ESPN 850 Gatorzone
Live Stats	Gametracker
Game Notes	UNF Game Notes

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida baseball team will make its first road trip of the season to take on No. 20 Florida in Gainesville on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at McKethan Stadium.

The Ospreys are coming off a 2-1 weekend at Best Bet Classic, defeating the 2013 Big South Champions, Liberty on Friday and Richmond on Saturday night. UNF is looking to shake off a 12-1 loss to South Florida in the Tournament finale on Sunday afternoon.

Wednesday night's game can be followed via live stats courtesy of the University Florida and also game updates can be seen on the official twitter of UNF Baseball: @OspreysBSB . Florida will also be doing a radio broadcast that can be heard on the internet or locally in Gainesville on ESPN 850.

Team-by-Team Comparison
	Record	.Avg	Runs	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	ERA	SO	BB
North Florida	2-1	.292	16	31	2	1	1	12	6.33	21	8
Florida	2-1	.233	19	21	5	-	2	14	4.85	20	14

*As of 2/18/13

By the Numbers
-Florida leads the all-time series that started back in 2006, 7-6.
-UNF is 13-26 all-time against ranked opponents.
-The Gators have lost to UNF five times while being nationally ranked.

Out of the Box
Flair for the Dramatic: The annual meeting between the Ospreys and Gators has produced some exciting games. In 2012 the Ospreys upset the Gators in Gainesville, 10-5 when Florida was the top team in the country. Since then, two out of the last three games have gone to extra innings. The two teams split last year with UNF winning 7-6 in 10 innings in the first meeting and Florida taking a 9-4 decision later on in the season.

A Look at the Gators: The University of Florida comes into Wednesday's contest ranked 20th in the country by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America and the USA Today. They also appear in Baseball America's and Collegiate Baseball's Top 25 at No. 23 and No. 16 respectively. The Gators won two of their first three games, taking a series against Maryland at home.

Laval Hits Century Mark at UNF: Head Coach Smoke Laval won his 100th game at UNF in dramatic fashion on Saturday night against Richmond. Sophomore Donnie Dewees singled home the winning run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Spiders, 4-3. Laval is in his fourth season as head coach of the Ospreys and is coming off the program's best season at the Division I level in 2013. UNF has improved every year under Laval who boasts a 551-339-1 record in 16 seasons as a coach at UNF, LSU and the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

RBI Machine: Sophomore Donnie Dewees is responsible for six of the Ospreys 12 runs batted in this season. He has an RBI in each of UNF's first three games including a four-RBI performance in the season opener against Liberty. No RBI was more important this past weekend than his game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth against Richmond on Saturday night.

Strong in Relief: The Osprey bullpen shined in the team's first two wins of the season. Against Liberty, junior transfer Dan VanSickle tossed four scoreless innings of one-hit baseball. He was credited with the win after coming on in the fourth inning. Junior Evan Incinelli nearly matched that performance on Saturday night. He entered the game in the fourth inning and pitched five innings in relief to earn his first win of the season. He struck out three batters and only surrendered three hits on the night.

Production from Behind the Dish: Coming into the season, the Ospreys faced a tall task of replacing catcher Corey Bass who was taken in the 13th round by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2014 MLB draft. Junior James Abbatinozzi made a case for himself in his only start of the weekend. On Saturday night, Abbatinozzi went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. After drawing a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth, he came around and scored the game-winning run on a Donnie Dewees single.

Impressive Debut: Freshman Alex Merritt saw his first collegiate action at DH in two games this weekend. The Ocala, Fla. native is batting a scorching .625 after five hits in eight at bats.

Complete Game Notes

Last 5 vs. Florida
3/19/13	L, 4-9	Gainesville, Fla.	Recap \| Box Score
2/26/13	W, 7-6	Gainesville, Fla.	Recap \| Box Score
5/8/12	L, 3-4	Gainesville, Fla.	Recap \| Box Score
4/3/12	W, 10-5	Jacksonville, Fla.	Recap \| Box Score
5/11/11	L, 1-4	Gainesville, Fla.	Recap \| Box Score

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