Season Preview: Opening Day for @OspreyBSB on Friday Night

Friday, February 19

Jacksonville, Fla.

6:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

George Washington

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2/18/2016 1:46:00 PM | Baseball

By: Scott Fitzgerald, Athletic Communications

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The college baseball season begins on Friday and features the defending Atlantic Sun Conference Champion North Florida Ospreys pitted against George Washington University in the first game of a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Harmon Stadium.

Series Information
Friday, Feb. 19 – 6:00 p.m. vs. George Washington
*Hat Giveaway, first 50 Fans receive a free at courtesy of Dome
*2-for-1 beer special
Saturday, Feb. 20 – 2:00 p.m. vs. George Washington
*Play Baseball Bingo for prizes
Sunday, Feb. 21 – 1:00 p.m. vs. George Washington
*Play Baseball Bingo for prizes

Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/unf/baseball/ (All three games)
Tickets: www.unfospreys.com/tickets

Pitching Matchups
Friday
UNF: RHP Matt Vaka (3-1, 1.78 ERA, 50.2 IP, 17 BB, 21 SO)
GW: RHP Bobby LeWarne (8-6, 4.66 ERA, 87.0 IP, 24 BB, 67 SO)

Saturday
UNF: RHP Bryan Baker (6-2, 3.73 ERA, 62.2 IP, 35 BB, 41 SO
GW: RHP Robbie Metz (3-3, 3.23 ERA, 61.1 IP, 14 BB, 37 SO)

Sunday
UNF: TBA
GW: RHP Jacob Williams ( 4-3, 3.32 ERA, 59.2 IP, 23 BB, 28 SO)
*All Stats from 2015 season

Season Story Lines
The Hunted: In the 2016 Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches Poll, the Ospreys were picked to repeat as conference champions. Last year the Ospreys finished with a D-1 era (2006 present) record, 45 wins, a win total that was either matched or surpassed by nine other teams in all of college baseball. The Ospreys posted a 16-5 record in A-Sun play and marched all the way the league title game before bowing out to eventual A-Sun Tournament Champion, Lipscomb, 8-7.

New Look Lineup: The Ospreys will look to replace a wealth of offensive production with the departure of 2nd round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs, Donnie Dewees along with seniors Trent Higginbothem and Ryan Roberson. Each member of the trio racked up 60+ RBIs on the country's fifth best offense in 2015. The Ospreys have led the Atlantic Sun in hitting in each of the past three seasons and will rely on middle of the lineup returners, Corbin Olmstead, Keith Skinner, Nick Karmeris and Alex Merritt.

Strong Up the Middle: The backbone of the Osprey team last season was its ability to play fundamentally sound defense. North Florida sported the second-highest fielding percentage in the country (.982) and ranked sixth in the nation in double plays (63). The middle infield combination of Kyle Brooks (SS) and Patrick Ervin (2B) played 47 games alongside each other in 2015. Ervin was named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league with a school-record, 225 assists. Brooks is on the verge of breaking the program's career assist record and just 29 shy of matching Matt Oxendine's career mark of 571.

Going Both Ways: Senior Corbin Olmstead has received all kinds of preseason recognition in anticipation of the 2016 season. He has been named a Preseason All-American by two publications and is a Preseason All-Conference selection at both designated hitter and relief pitcher. He is on the watch list for two of the Nation's top awards, the Golden Spikes Award annually given to the country's top collegiate baseball player and the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award given to the country's top relief pitcher. In 2015, Olmstead was equally effective at the plate (.308, 13 HR, 42 RBIs) and on the mound (0.25 ERA, 9 SV, 35.1 IP, 42 SO).

Experienced Arms: The Ospreys return three pitchers (RHP Matt Vaka, RHP Bryan Baker and LHP Tyler DuPont) who have significant experience pitching on the weekend. Vaka earned Freshman All-Conference honors last season with a 1.78 ERA in 13 starts and 50.2 innings pitched. He went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA against Atlantic Sun Conference Opponents. Baker, a hard-throwing right-hander, has the most collegiate innings (103.0) on the staff. He has made 18 starts in his first two seasons as an Osprey and was second on the team with six wins in 2015. DuPont won four of his first five starts last season including a pair of eight-inning plus outings against Southern Miss and St. John's. He pitched a career-high 61 innings as a redshirt sophomore in 2015.

Getting to the Late Innings: Statistically, the Ospreys return one of the top bullpens in the A-Sun. Anchored by All-American, Corbin Olmstead, Head Coach Smoke Laval will also have the option to go to right-hander Matthew Naylor who was second in the A-Sun with eight wins in 2015. His 1.78 ERA in 28 appearances was the 24^th lowest in the country. Red-shirt junior Alex Smith will also be able to provide quality innings from the right side. He finished 2015 with a 5-1 record and struck out 29 batters in 26.2 innings pitched.

Been there Before: The Atlantic Sun became the third conference (Southland & SEC) to bestow the league's Coach of the Year Award on Smoke Laval. Now in his sixth season at North Florida, Laval has led the Ospreys to three-straight Atlantic Sun Conference tournament's including the Championship game last season. North Florida has recorded 40-plus wins in two of the last three seasons. Laval and his staff have continually brought top-tier talent to Harmon Stadium, evident in Olmstead becoming the third-straight player (Donnie Dewees-2015 & Drew Weeks-2014) to be named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Watch List. Laval captured his 600^th career win last season in a decorated career that has included stops at ULM and LSU.

Incoming Talent: The North Florida coaching staff looks to see contributions from position players Chris Thibideau, Chris Berry Christian Diaz and Dalton Board in the early going. Thibideau comes to North Florida as a Junior after playing two seasons at Midland College (Texas). On the mound lefthander Austin Drury, righthander Frank German and Anthony Delaney should be able to contribute significant innings.

Series Notes
Opening Day: The Ospreys are 23-5 all-time on Opening Day including a 14-2 mark at Harmon Stadium. Under Head Coach Smoke Laval, the Ospreys are 4-1 in their first game of the season.

First Timers: This will mark the first ever meeting between George Washington and North Florida. The Ospreys are 5-2 all-time against Atlantic 10 opponents. The only common opponent from the 2015 season was St. Louis in which the Ospreys defeated 8-6 at the Cox Diamond Invitational in Pensacola, Fla. The Colonials lost 2-of-3 to St. Louis at home in early May of 2015.

About the Colonials: 2015 was a banner year for George Washington, as they posted 32 wins, the most by the program since 1998. One of those 32 victories came in an upset, 12-1 win over #16 Maryland on April 8, 2016. The Colonials return all three of their weekend starters from last season in Bobby Lewarne, Robbie Metz and Jacob Williams return for 2016. One of their strongest arms is the one of their closer, Eddie Muhl who led the NCAA with 17 saves last year. Muhl, along with North Florida's Corbin Olmstead is on the 2016 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List.