Box Score (PDF)JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Senior
Keith Skinner's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth sealed an 8-6 victory and a two-game midweek sweep of Dartmouth (4-11) in a rare afternoon weekday game at Harmon Stadium. It marks the fourth, walk-off victory in the last 11 games for the Ospreys.
The Ospreys never held a lead in the contest until Skinner's second home run of the year cleared the right field wall in the ninth inning. North Florida completed its eighth come-from-behind victory of the season by erasing a pair of three-run deficits.
Skinner, who ranks second in the Atlantic Sun with a .384 batting average, was seeking his first hit of the day in the ninth inning. The catcher put a thundering charge into a 1-0 fastball from Dartmouth reliever Sam Fichthorn. The home run came with one out in the ninth and plated
Christian Diaz who singled in the at bat prior.
Fellow senior
Corbin Olmstead also did damage via the home run, belting two of his own in the contest. In the process he became the program's D-1 era career leader in home runs, surpassing Andrew Karmeris (2009-12) with his 30
th and 31
st. It marked the third time in his career he homered twice in a game. He finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 18 games. Olmstead was also the pitcher of record after he recorded the final out of the top of the ninth inning. He improves to 2-0 with both wins coming in his last three appearances.
Redshirt Junior
Chris Thibideau hit the third of a season-high four home runs for the Ospreys to tie the game up at six in the bottom of the sixth inning. Thibideau was a triple shy of the cycle and was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. He has four, three-hit games this season, tied with Olmstead for the most on the team. Diaz was the other Osprey to collect three hits in the game as he finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. He upped his season RBI total to 20 (second best on the team) in just 17 games played.
Shortstop
Kyle Brooks reached base for the 19
th straight game and finished the afternoon, 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Senior
Adam Polansky and junior
Matthew Naylor combined for 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. Polansky has not yielded a run in his last five appearances, a total of seven innings pitched. Naylor struck out two of the six batters he faced and didn't allow a hit. His 32 strikeouts are the second most on the team and fourth most in the A-Sun.
The Ospreys faced deficits of three runs twice, once in the bottom of the fourth and again in the bottom of the fifth. In both instances, the Ospreys responded with a pair of runs in their next turn at the plate to pull within a run. With two more runs today, the Ospreys have now scored 15 runs in the ninth inning or later this season.
For the second time this week an opposing player has hit two home runs in a game against the Ospreys. Dartmouth's Michael Ketchmark hit two home runs and drove in three of the six Big Green runs on the afternoon.
The two-game midweek sweep of Dartmouth moves the Ospreys to 10-1 all-time against Ivy league opponents.
The Ospreys will have a four-day layoff before returning to action on Tuesday when they host Florida A&M at Harmon Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
