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Weekend Sweep: The Ospreys are fresh off a three-game sweep of Northern Kentucky and now have won four consecutive games. North Florida is now 4-2 in Atlantic Sun play and tied for second place in the A-Sun standings with FGCU.
BIG Inning: In Saturday's series finale against NKU, the Ospreys broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh by scoring eight runs. A total of 14 batters were sent to the plate as the Ospreys collected four hits and took advantage of six walks issued by the Norse bullpen. It was the largest single inning outburst of the season and fifth time North Florida has scored six or more in a single inning.
First Start: Senior
Dan VanSickle will make his first career start on the mound on Tuesday night against Bethune-Cookman. He made a team-best 21 relief appearances in 2014 and has pitched 14.1 innings this year. His longest career outing came on March 7, 2014 against Western Carolina when he tossed 4.2 innings.
Home Cooking: The Ospreys sport a 17-5 record at home this season, already eclipsing their home win total from last season with nine games still scheduled at Harmon Stadium. The Ospreys are 14-3 at home since Mar. 1
A-Sun Leaders: As a team, North Florida leads the Atlantic Sun in five offensive categories as well as team ERA (3.99) and fielding percentage (.982). Currently the Ospreys lead the A-Sun in batting average (.306), runs, (264), and hits (371).
RBI Machines: Donnie Dewees,
Trent Higginbothem and
Ryan Roberson account for 112 RBIs this season and all three rank in the top five in the league. Dewees has an A-Sun best 42 RBIs and right behind him is Higginbothem with 37. Roberson eclipsed the 30 RBI mark for the third time in his career and is tied for fourth in the league with 33.
Last Time vs. BCU- The Ospreys stunned Wildcats in 12 innings in Daytona last month. Trailing the majority of the night, North Florida tied the game up in the ninth and scored six runs in the top of the 11th to pull out an 11-5 victory.
Keith Skinner, who came on as a pinch-hitter scored the game-tying run in the ninth and the go-ahead run in the 10th.
About Bethune-Cookman - Since the heartbreaking loss to the Ospreys last month, the Wildcats have rattled off six wins in their last eight games. They are currently 11-4 in MEAC play this season and took two out of three against Florida A&M this past weekend. Austin Garcia is the only everyday player with a batting average over .300.
About Florida A&M- The Ospreys will look to avenge a 2-0 loss in Tallahassee last season. The loss was the first in 13 previous games against the Rattlers. Under Head Coach
Smoke Laval, North Florida is a 5-1 against Florida A&M. Among the two teams' common opponents this season, the Rattlers took down Troy 2-1 but fell to Jacksonville 10-4 at home. At the plate, Marlon Gibbs leads the way with 23 RBIs and a .310 batting average.