JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida baseball team (3-2) returns home to Harmon Stadium for a three-game series with the University of Hartford (0-0) beginning Friday night. The first 50 fans in attendance for the series opener can get a free hat courtesy of Dome Hats and those 21 and over can take advantage of 2-for-1 beer specials at the concession stand.
 
Pitching matchup
Friday
North Florida: RHP Bryan Baker (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 2 BB, 5 SO)
Hartford: RHP Kyle Gauthier (4-7, 3.47 ERA, 93.1 IP, 23 BB, 53 SO)*
Saturday
North Florida: RHP Matt Vaka (0-1, 11.12 ERA, 5.2 IP, 1 BB, 3 SO)
Hartford: RHP John LaRossa (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP, 3 BB, 3 SO)*
Sunday
North Florida: TBA          
Hartford: RHP Brian Murphy (1-5, 4.27 ERA, 65.1 IP, 24 BB, 37 SO)*
*2015 Stats
 
Out of the Box
Win Streak Snapped: Despite another late inning rally, the Ospreys had their three-game, unbeaten streak broken against UCF on Wednesday night. The Knights broke a 4-4 tie when Austin Griffin doubled off the centerfield wall enabling the go-ahead run to score from first. Seven different Ospreys were responsible for the nine North Florida hits. Junior Patrick Ervin put forth his second multiple-hit effort of the season. Tyler DuPont was the most effective of the six Ospreys to toe the mound. The junior tossed 2.2 innings in relief and struck out one.
 
Late Inning Comeback: Things looked grim for the Ospreys for the majority of the game against Savannah State on Tuesday night. The Ospreys trailed 4-2 after seven innings before unleashing five runs in the bottom of the eighth and the eventual victory. Corbin Olmstead tied the game at four with a two-RBI single and Keith Skinner singled to right field scoring Kyle Brooks for the eventual game-winning run.
 
Save King: After coming up clutch at the plate on Tuesday night, Olmstead shut the door in the top of the ninth recording the final two outs on the mound. The save was the 17^th of his career, the most by an Osprey reliever in the D-1 era (2006-present). He now has his sights on Josh Papelbon's program mark of 24.
 
Don't Count Them Out: The Ospreys have scored 18 of their 29 runs this season in the sixth inning or later including seven in eighth inning alone. To compliment the late offense, the Osprey bullpen has allowed just four runs in the final four opponent turns at the plate.
 
Keeping it Close: Dating back to last season, 27 of Ospreys' last 64 games have been decided by two runs or less.  Of the Ospreys last 18 losses, including two this season, 10 of them have been by just one run.

 
Swinging a Hot Bat: Junior Alex Merritt leads the team with a .471 batting average and has one of the team's two home runs. He has seven hits in his last 11 at bats including two doubles and three RBIs.
 
First Meeting: Hartford will be the second of six first time opponents for the Ospreys this season. It will be also the first time North Florida has squared off against an America East school.
 
About Hartford: This weekend's series will be the first three games of the season for Hartford which begins a 11-game, season-opening road trip. The Hawks are coming off a 23-31 year that included a berth into the America East Postseason Tournament. Hartford returns Second Team All-Conference selections, Kyle Gauthier and David MacKinnon. Shortstop Ben Bengtson was a America-East All-Conference honoree after making 42 starts and hitting six home runs.