Ospreys Walk-off With Series in Extra Innings

Sunday, March 16

Jacksonville, Fla.

1 p.m.

University of North Florida

9-9, 2-1

USC Upstate

9-13, 1-2

S.C. Upstate

North Florida

3/16/2014 4:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)
Series Audio Highlights
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Corbin Olmstead slapped 3-2 pitch down the right field line in the bottom of the 10^th inning to propel the Ospreys to a 4-3, series clinching victory over USC Upstate (9-13, 1-2 Atlantic Sun) this afternoon. North Florida improves its overall record to 9-9 on the season and 2-1 in Atlantic Sun play.

Olmstead, who was also the winning pitcher in the contest, was down to his last strike with two outs in the bottom of the 10^th and came up with his second hit of the day to win it for the Ospreys. Olmstead came on in relief of Tyler Moore in the fifth inning and tossed the final six innings to earn the victory. He struck out three batters and allowed only three runs in his fifth appearance of the season.

Alex Bacon started the extra inning rally with a lead-off single to left field. With one out, he was moved over to second on a James Abbatinozzi single to center field. Bacon scored the winning run easily on the base hit by Olmstead that was perfectly placed between the right fielder and the foul line. It marked the second time that Bacon scored the winning run for the Ospreys in an extra inning game this season.

USC Upstate grabbed the initial lead in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run home run by Zach Krider. The freshman first baseman was 8-for-15 with five RBIs in the three game series. The Spartans looked in command of the game when starting pitcher Dylan Parker sat down the Ospreys in the bottom half of the inning. After five strong innings, Parker did not allow a run and stranded five Osprey runners to that point.

The North Florida bats awoke in a big way in the bottom half of the sixth on back-to-back home runs by Ryan Roberson and Trent Higginbothem. The long balls came on consecutive pitches from Parker and tied the game up at two. Later on in the frame, Abbatinozzi came up with a two-out hit that scored Patrick Ervin for the go-ahead run, giving the Ospreys a 3-2 lead after six innings of play.

The Spartans answered in the top of the eighth inning, tying the game at three on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Serba. Upstate junior Erik Samples led off the inning with RBI double and came around on a deep fly ball to centerfield.

Seven of the nine batters in the game for the Ospreys recorded multiple-hit efforts. The North Florida offense exploded for 19 hits yesterday and followed that performance up with 15 hits in today's contest. Drew Weeks finished the day going 2-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to 26 games on a single in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Ospreys will square off against Bethune-Cookman for the second time in as many weeks on Tuesday night in Daytona Beach. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.