@OspreyBSB Closes Out Regular Season at Kennesaw State

North Florida vs. Kennesaw St.
Dates/Times	May 15-17, 2014 \| 6:00 p.m. \| 6:00 p.m. \| 1:00 p.m.
Stadium	Stillwell Baseball Stadium
Location	Kennesaw, Ga.
Radio	1010XL
Live Stats	www.unfospreys.com/coverage.aspx
Live Video	n/a
Game Notes	UNF Game Notes

KENNESAW, Ga. - The 2014 regular season will come to a close this weekend as the North Florida baseball team travels north to take on Kennesaw State (30-21) beginning Thursday evening. Already qualified for next week's Atlantic Sun Tournament, the Ospreys will be jockeying for playoff positioning in the eight-team field.

The Voice of the Ospreys, Robert Harper, will have the call on 1010XL for all three of the games of the series. Thursday's game will be joined in progress at 7:00 p.m. on 1010 AM. Fans can also follow along on Kennesaw live stats or get in-game updates on the action by following the Ospreys on twitter @OspreyBSB .

Team-by-Team Comparison
	Record	.Avg	Runs	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	ERA	SO	BB
North Florida	22-26 (11-13)	.307	271	528	73	10	34	248	4.85	248	153
Kennesaw State	30-21 (14-9)	.298	222	551	82	18	21	284	3.72	396	177

*As of 5/12/14

Out of the Box
About Kennesaw State: The Owls suffered their first loss in over a month, dropping an 8-6 decision on the road against Western Carolina on Tuesday night. The Catamounts, who suffered an extra innings loss to the Ospreys earlier this season, scored seven runs in the seventh inning for a come-from-behind victory. The loss snapped a Division I best, 16-game win streak. The Owls are winners of their last four Atlantic Sun series with all of them coming by virtue of the sweep. Their last conference loss came against Jacksonville on March 30th. Ironically Kennesaw comes into the game as the Atlantic Sun's worst defensive team statistically, with a league-high 85 errors.

Seeking Revenge: The Ospreys and Owls met five times last season and North Florida took three out of five. It was Kennesaw however who won when it counted. The Owls knocked the Ospreys out of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament with back-to-back victories in the elimination round. North Florida took two out of three in the regular season by a combined score of 15-8. The Owls limited the potent Osprey offensive in the final two games of the season, allowing only four runs in two games.

Playoff Scenario: This weekend's series will unclog a log jam in the lower half of the Atlantic Sun standings. The Ospreys, who are currently tied for sixth, can finish as high as fourth and as low as eight depeding on the outcome of the series against Kennesaw. Of the lower half of the standings, North Florida only owns a tiebreaker against Stetson and will need to win more games than Kennesaw, Jacksonville and ETSU to vault all the way to the fourth slot.

Golden Spikes Showdown: Earlier this Week, Drew Weeks was added to the Golden Spikes Award watch list. The award is annually given to the nation's top amateur baseball player by USA Baseball. Also on the list is Kennesaw State's Max Pentecost. The Owl catcher is batting .413 with 91 hits and a league-best 53 RBIs. Michael Murray of FGCU is rounds out the Atlantic Sun trio among the 30 players on the prestigious list.

200-Hit Club: In the midst of career year, junior Drew Weeks became the latest member of the school's 200-hit club. He collected 37 hits as a freshman, 71 as sophomore and 92 this season. He is the fifth player to rack up 200 hits since the Ospreys reclassified to Division I in 2006. His 92 hits this year is just one shy of the school record for hits in a season held by Preston Hale.

Olmstead's Power Surge: Sophomore Corbin Olmstead hit his 10th home run of the year on Friday night against Lipscomb. He is tied for second in the Atlantic Sun with 10 long balls and third in the league with a .630 slugging percentage.

Atlantic Sun's Top Hitting Team: The Ospreys come into the weekend with a team batting average of .307, tops in the Atlantic Sun and 10th in the entire country. They second in the league in slugging percentage (.421) and are third in hits with 528.

The 100 RBI Milestone: Junior Alex Bacon was the latest Osprey to drive in 100 career runs. Against Lipscomb this weekend a pair of runs scored on his double down the left field line to give the Ospreys the lead. Last week against Georgia Tech, Drew Weeks brought in the third Osprey run and was the 100th RBI of Drew Weeks' career. Both players passed current Assistant Coach Andrew Hannon on the Division I career RBI list.

Cooling the Osprey Bats: Going into the series against Lipscomb last weekend, the Ospreys had recorded double-digit in 11-straight games. After 16 hits on Friday night, North Florida was held to eight hits on Saturday and just five on Sunday. The Ospreys have been held to five or less only twic this season and are just 3-16 when held under nine or less hits.

Weeks Leads Nation in Hitting: Junior right fielder Drew Weeks went 5-for-13 in the three-game series against Lipscomb. He continues to lead the country with a .455 batting average and a national-best 92 hits.

Outfield Assists: The Ospreys are among the nation's leaders in outfield assists with 21 this season. Drew Weeks gunned down his national leading, 10th runner last Tuesday against Georgia Tech. Garrick Ferguson has seven assists from the outfield in 32 starts.

Complete Game Notes

Atlantic Sun Conference Standings (as of 5/14/14)
	School	Conf.	Overall
1.	FGCU*	18-6	35-18
2.	Mercer*	17-7	37-13
3.	Lipscomb*	15-9	28-25
4.	Kennesaw St.*	14-9	30-21
5.	ETSU*	11-12	24-27
6t.	North Florida*	11-13	22-26
6t.	Stetson*	11-13	22-31
8.	Jacksonville*	10-13	17-31
9.	Northern Kentucky	6-18	14-34
10.	USC Upstate	5-18	16-36

*Clinched playoff berth

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