Box Score (PDF)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida baseball team racked up 17 hits in a 12-1 victory over Bethune-Cookman (19-21) this evening. Junior Drew Weeks belted two home runs and collected four RBIs to help the Ospreys improve to 16-21 on the year.
 
Weeks, who came into the game as the nation's leader in hits, added to his total with a 3-for-5 effort at the plate. He tied a season-high with four RBIs and upped his league-leading average to .438. Five Osprey pitchers combined for a three-hitter and yielded only one, unearned run. The win clinched the three-game, season series against Bethune-Cookman. The Wildcats forced the rubber game after a 8-1 victory in Daytona on March 18th. The Ospreys hold a 14-7 edge in the all-time series and have won three of the last four.
 
Eight of the nine starters recorded a hit in the contest for North Florida as the collected the third highest hit total of the season. Junior catcher James Abbatinozzi also had three hits on the day and drove in a pair of runs. Garrick Ferguson and Alex Merritt each went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored to help pace the Osprey offense.
 
Freshman Tyler DuPont was credited with the victory after pitching two innings of scoreless relief. The lefthander faced only seven batters, not yielding a hit to earn his second victory of the spring. Starting pitcher Bryan Baker was equally as effective, throwing two innings of one-hit baseball. He recorded his 11^th strikeout of the season and faced only eight batters.
 
The Ospreys scored in each of their first three turns at the plate. Weeks put North Florida on the scoreboard with an opposite field home run that tucked inside the right field foul pole to make the score, 1-0. In the next inning he sent another ball over the right field wall this time with three runners on, giving the Ospreys a 4-0 advantage after two.
 
North Florida plated three more runs in the third on RBI hits by Merritt, Ferguson and Abbatinozzi. The Ospreys put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate that turned into four more runs. All six hits for the Ospreys in the frame were singles including the second of the night for Merritt. Corbin Olmstead and Alex Bacon were credited with RBI singles in the inning. Ferguson capped the North Florida scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Merritt, to make the score 12-1.
 
Relievers Dan VanSickle and Jamie Cardwell each contributed to the three-hit effort by the Osprey pitching staff. VanSickle surrendered the unearned run but struck out two batters and allowed only one hit. Cardwell worked the seventh and eighth innings, holding the Wildcats hitless in his two innings of work.
 
Freshman Alex Smith worked a painless ninth inning, facing three batters and throwing only 16 pitches. Smith has yet to allow an earned run this season in 3.2 innings on the mound.
 
The Ospreys will travel to Fort Myers this weekend to play three against Florida Gulf Coast. Game one will take place on Thursday with the series wrapping up on Saturday afternoon. First pitch on Thursday night is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Swanson Stadium.