JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A seven-run, eighth inning powered the North Florida (1-1) baseball team to a 16-11 victory over Virginia Military Institute (1-1) this afternoon. The two teams combined for 37 hits and 14 runs in the final three innings.
 
After scoring four runs and taking a 10-9 lead in the top of the eighth inning, the Keydets looked as if they were ready to clinch the series. Instead it was the Ospreys who came from behind in a big way, scoring seven runs in the bottom half of the inning. With the bases loaded, Patrick Ervin blooped a single into left field to give the Ospreys an 11-10 lead. The next batter, senior Ryan Roberson, broke the game open with a bases clearing double down the left field line giving North Florida a 14-10 advantage.
 
Roberson and Ervin were two of five Ospreys to collect three hits on the afternoon. Roberson was 3-for-6 with three RBIs and Ervin was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Sophomore Donnie Dewees was a double shy of the cycle and drove in a game-high, five runs to lead the Osprey attack.
 
Sophomore Alex Smith came on in relief in the bottom of the eighth and came up with a big strikeout to strand two Keydet runners. One run came across in the top of the ninth but the right-hander pitched well enough to earn his first career win. He faced six batters in 1.1 innings and struck out two in his season debut.
 
Dewees helped the Ospreys recover from their first deficit of the game in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer that scored Ervin. The Ospreys grabbed their first lead of the game in the bottom of the second when Ervin beat out a ground ball to shortstop enabling a run score. Dewees upped the North Florida lead to 4-2 with an RBI ground out in the frame.
 
The back and forth battle continued as the Keydets recaptured the lead in the top of the fourth. A Will Malbon triple plated two runs and he scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly. Mabon went 4-for-6 with three RBIs and three runs scored in the contest.
 
Keith Skinner knotted the game back up in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI double to right that scored Dewees. Three runs over the next two turns at the plate, capped by a solo home run by Corbin Olmstead in the sixth,gave the Ospreys an 8-5 lead. The team's home run leader last season, finished the day 3-for-5 with two RBIs.
 
Things unraveled for the Osprey bullpen in the eighth as the Keydets racked up six hits and four runs. Mabon looked as if he would be the hero, with a two-out single up the middle that scored, Brandon Angus. The centerfielder's third hit of the day put VMI up 10-9.
 
The two teams will be back at Harmon Stadium for the rubber match tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. The Keydets will send freshman Brandon Barbery to the mound. A starting pitcher has yet to be announced for the Ospreys.