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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of Pennsylvania (1-2) scored two runs in the eighth inning that led to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over North Florida baseball on Sunday afternoon. The Quakers avoid the sweep and hand the Ospreys their sixth, one-run loss of 2016.
 
Penn got the first two runners to reach base thanks to a hit by pitch and an Osprey fielding error in the top of the eighth. Closer Corbin Olmstead was summoned from the bullpen and retired the first two batters he faced. With first base open, the Ospreys elected to intentionally walk 2015 First Team All-Ivy league selection, Matt Greskoff, to load the bases. The next batter, Quaker shortstop Ryan Mincher, singled home the tying and the go-ahead run to give Penn a 3-2 advantage. The lead was only the Quakers' second of the three-game series and the hit was the first off Olmstead in six appearances this season.
 
North Florida (6-6) starting pitcher Anthony Delaney was lights out in four innings of work. The junior struck out six batters and allowed just three hits. He did not issue a walk in a 62-pitch effort. Reliever Austin Howze came on in the fifth and fanned three of the nine batters he faced over 2.2 innings.
 
Making his first start of his Quaker career, starting pitcher Gabe Kleiman gave Penn six serviceable innings, allowing two runs and six hits. After blanking the Ospreys in the first three innings, North Florida pushed two runs across in the fourth inning.
 
Junior Christian Diaz got the Ospreys on the scoreboard with an RBI single through the right side that scored Nick Karmeris. Junior Alex Merritt, who singled earlier in the frame, took advantage of a Kleiman wild pitch with two outs and scored from third base to give the Ospreys a 2-0 lead.
 
After the two North Florida runs, Kleiman sat down the next eight batters in order before he gave way to reliever Jake Nelson. The hard-throwing right-hander surrendered just three hits in three innings to earn his first collegiate victory.
 
All but two Ospreys recorded a hit in the contest. North Florida out-hit Penn by a 9-6 margin. Merritt was the only Osprey to record multiple hits and finished the day 2-for-4 with a run scored.
 
Delaney, Howze and Olmstead combined to strikeout 11 batters. North Florida pitching fanned a total of 41 batters in three games against Penn including a D-1 era single game record of 16 on Friday night.
 
The Ospreys will be home on Tuesday evening to host the No. 1 Florida Gators at 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online or by phone (904) 620-BIRD.