JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The North Florida Softball team dropped their final game of their A-Sun Conference series, falling 9-8 against crosstown rival Jacksonville Sunday.
 
The Ospreys (17-24, 5-7 A-Sun) now sit in a tie for seventh place in the A-Sun Standings with the Dolphins (23-24, 5-7 A-Sun), who hold the tiebreaker for the sixth and final spot in the postseason tournament. North Florida has six conference games remaining in their schedule.
 
Jacksonville struck first, scoring a run on a RBI groundout to lead 1-0 after the first inning. North Florida responded in the top of the second, putting up two runs on back-to-back RBI doubles by freshmen Minnie Cocuzza and Navia Penrod to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Dolphins took back the lead in the top of the top of the third, scoring three runs to lead 4-2.
 
The Ospreys regained the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring six runs on seven hits. Junior Ashia Kerr started off the rally, scoring senior Shelby Duncan on a RBI single, sophomore Ashley Niesman then followed that with a RBI single of her own to tie the game at 4-4. Cocuzza gave the Ospreys a 6-4 lead with a 2-RBI single, before Penrod closed the inning with a 2-RBI double to make the game 8-4.
 
Jacksonville regained the lead in the bottom half of the fifth, as the Dolphins scored five runs on two hits, taking advantage of two bases-loaded walks, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, and a Osprey fielding error, to make the score the eventual final of 9-8.
 
Cocuzza and Penrod led the way for the Ospreys, with Cocuzza going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while Penrod went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
 
The Ospreys will take a break from conference play, facing Bethune Cookman in a doubleheader Thursday at 4 p.m. at the UNF Softball Complex. They return to conference play May 2-3 in Fort Myers, Fla., when they face FGCU.
 
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