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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On an unseasonably cool night in Jacksonville, Virginia Military Institute (1-0) came away with a 3-1 victory over North Florida (0-1) at Harmon Stadium. Keydet starting pitcher, Andrew Woods outdueled Osprey starter Tyler Moore for his first victory of the year.
 
Woods limited the potent Osprey offense to just one run over seven innings of work. He scattered six hits and struck out four to set the tone for VMI. The combination of Jonathan Kelley and Taylor Edens came on to hold season-opening win. Edens faced four batters in the bottom of the ninth, struck out two and was credited with the save.
 
Keydet second baseman Jordan Tarsovich supplied the offense for VMI. He was one of seven batters to come to the plate in the top of the first inning. He began what looked like it was going to be a big inning for the Keydets. With one out, he cracked a solo home run over the left field wall to put VMI up, 1-0. The Keydets went on to load the bases before Moore was able to induce an inning-ending groundout.
 
After going down in order in the bottom of the first, the Ospreys put the first three runners on in the bottom of the second. Keith Skinner walked to lead off the inning and was followed up by back-to-back singles by Trent Higginbothem and Corbin Olmstead. Skinner scored the tying run when Nick Karmeris grounded into a double play.
 
Tarsovich was at it again in the fifth when the Keydets took the lead for good. With one out, Will Malbon tripled into the gap in right center. The next batter, Tarsovich, grounded out to shortstop allowing Malbon to score the go-ahead run. Tarsovich finished the night going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
 
The second Keydet triple of the game allowed VMI to put an insurance run on the board in the top of the ninth. Junior David Geary rolled a ball all the way to the wall in left center and he just beat the relay throw with a head first slide into third. Pinch-hitter, Matt Dunlevy was able to score Geary on a sacrifice fly to centerfield, putting VMI up 3-1.
 
Four of the Ospreys seven hits came off the bats of Ryan Roberson and Higginbothem. Roberson, back on the field after an injury cut his 2014 short, went 2-for-4 with a double. Higginbothem, an Atlantic Sun Preseason All-Conference selection, was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.
 
Moore settled down after a rocky first inning, tossing six innings and striking out four in the hard fought loss. The senior is second on the program's D-1 strikeout list with 171.
 
Coming into the contest, the Ospreys had won their last three home openers. North Florida drops to 13-3 all-time at home on opening day and 22-6 overall. Today marked the first ever meeting between VMI and North Florida.
 
The two teams will continue the season-opening, three-game series tomorrow with an afternoon matchup beginning at 1:00 p.m. Sophomore Bryan Baker will get the start on the mound for the Ospreys and he will be opposed by right-hander Blaine Lafin.