Game Notes (PDF)
FORT MYERS, Fla. - After an eight-day layoff, the North Florida baseball team (26-14, 5-4 A-Sun) returns to Atlantic Sun Conference play Friday night at FGCU (19-21, 5-4 A-Sun). The two teams are tied for third place in the current A-Sun standings. Friday night's opener will be carried live on ASunTV.
| Date |
Time |
Location |
Coverage |
| Fri. April 29 |
6:30 p.m. |
Fort Myers, Fla. |
Live Stats | ASunTV |
| Sat. April 30 |
2:00 p.m. |
Fort Myers, Fla. |
Live Stats |
| Sun. May 1 |
12:00 p.m. |
Fort Myers, Fla. |
Live Stats |
Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday
North Florida: RHP
Bryan Baker (3-2, 2.21 ERA, 53.0 IP, 19 BB, 55 SO)
FGCU: RHP Brady Anderson (5-4, 3.25 ERA, 69.1 IP, 18 BB, 41 SO)
Saturday
North Florida: RHP
Brad Deppermann (0-0, 9.39 ERA, 7.2 IP, 4 BB, 7 SO)
FGCU: RHP Garrett Anderson (1-1, 3.83 ERA, 54.0 IP, 4 BB, 43 SO)
Sunday
North Florida: LHP
Austin Drury (3-1, 4.87 ERA, 44.1 IP, 17 BB, 27 SO)
FGCU: RHP Mario Leon (3-3, 4.02 ERA, 53.2 IP, 28 BB, 40 SO)
- FGCU holds a 19-9 advantage in the all-time series that began in 2003.
- The two teams met only once prior to joining the A-Sun, a 14-2 victory for the Ospreys in Fort Myers on Feb. 5, 2003
- The Eagles have won all eight regular season series' since FGCU entered the A-Sun in 2008.
- Under Head Coach Smoke Laval the Ospreys are 6-11 vs. FGCU and are 2-1 against the Eagles in the postseason
- The Ospreys eliminated FGCU from the 2015 A-Sun Tournament last season defeating the host Eagles, 8-2.
- North Florida has won back-to-back meetings against FGCU and have the opportunity to win three-straight for the first time.
- Coming into the weekend the Ospreys have won six-straight games, the longest streak in the A-Sun. The Ospreys at home have won 10 in-a-row, the second best stretch at Harmon Stadium in the program's D-1 era.
- Against Florida schools, the Ospreys are 12-5 this season.
- With two more wins, North Florida will notch the 1,100 win in program history. Going into the weekend the Ospreys are 1,098-577 all time.
- In the month of April, the Ospreys are 10-4 and are now 22-6 in the month of April the last two seasons.
- The Ospreys are coming off an eight-day layoff, their biggest gap between games this season. The game after a four-day break in late March, the Ospreys posted a 15-0 shutout of Florida A&M, racking up 17 hits and allowing just two.
- This weekend will mark the first A-Sun series since taking all three games against Stetson two weeks ago. North Florida never trailed in the series and outscored the Hatters 16-5.
- North Florida jumped a total of 39 spots over the last two weeks in the latest NCAA RPI rankings and now sit at 62, the second highest in the A-Sun
- Left fielder Dakota Higdon comes into the series as the Ospreys' hottest hitter. He has recorded eight hits in his last 18 at bats (.444). He matched a career-high with three hits last Tuesday vs. UCF and scored the game-winning run in the ninth inning
- Senior Keith Skinner is 7-for-17 with six runs scored and five walks in his last five games. He leads the Ospreys with 16 multiple-hit games. He also leads the team in walks with 27, drawing a free pass in six of the last seven games
- Nick Karmeris put together back-to-back, four-RBI games against USF (4/12/16) and Stetson (4/15). He comes into the series riding a six-game hit streak, scoring a run in each contest. He had five hits in the three games against Stetson.
- Shortstop Kyle Brooks recorded two doubles for the second time in his career in a 7-3 win over Savannah state on April 20.
- Junior Patrick Ervin is second in the A-Sun with 11 hit by pitches. Six have them have occurred in the nine conference games this season.
- Corbin Olmstead is in the midst of a 33-game reached base streak despite being hitless in his last two games. He has drawn four walks in his last two games. He was recently named to the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year watch list.
- North Florida leads the A-Sun in six different offensive categories: batting average (.298), runs (265), hits (414), home runs (32), slugging percentage (.421) and on-base percentage (.381).
- Catcher Keith Skinner has caught all 40 games for North Florida and offensively in A-Sun play is hitting .515 (17-for-33) while slugging .606 with an on-base percentage of (.553).
- Corbin Olmstead tied for third all-time on the school's home run list and four shy of tying the school mark.
- North Florida has held a lead in five of its 14 losses including both games vs. No.1 Florida
- As a team, the Ospreys have struck out only 193 times, the lowest total in the A-Sun by 46 strikeouts.
- North Florida's weekend rotation of Bryan Baker, Tyler DuPont and Austin Drury pitched a combined 21 innings, allowed just four runs and struck out 18 batters in three games against Stetson.The Hatters hit just .176 in the series and all three starters went six or more innings.
- Friday night starter Bryan Baker has an A-Sun low, 2.21 ERA and has allowed only four earned runs in three starts vs. A-Sun opponents.
- The quartet of Bryan Baker, Corbin Olmstead, Matthew Naylor and Tyler DuPont each have 11 career wins, the eighth most in the program's D-1 era.
- Junior Alex Smith has yet to surrender an earned run in his first 14.2 innings pitched. Its the second time in his career he has held opponents run-less to start a season. In 2014 he did not let an earned run cross in all 5.2 IP.
- Reliever Austin Howze moved into a tie for the team lead with his third win last Tuesday night. The junior righty tossed 2.2 innings of one-hit baseball.
- Reliever Matthew Naylor has appeared in 22 games this season, the fifth most of any A-Sun pitcher.
- The Osprey bullpen is 14-5 this season with a 2.40 ERA and is responsible for 141 of the 293 Osprey strikeouts.
- The infield combination of Kyle Brooks and Patrick Ervin rank No. 1 and No. 3 respectively in the A-Sun in assists. Brooks' 121 assists lead the league and Ervin's has compiled 117.
- Catcher Keith Skinner has thrown out 10 runners attempting to steal, the fifth most in the A-Sun.
- The Ospreys have tallied 42 double plays this season, the 12th most in the country and the most by any A-Sun team.
- Nick Karmeris leads the Ospreys with eight outfield assists. He is the fifth Osprey outfielder since 2001 to record eight or more assists in a single season.
FGCU: While the Ospreys enter the weekend with the league's longest win streak, the Eagles have not posted a win in their last four games. FGCU dropped all three games on their trip to Jacksonville last weekend. The Dolphins prevailed in both games of a doubleheader last Saturday in walk-off fashion and then pitched a 5-0 shutout in the series finale. Second baseman Jake Noll, the A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year, leads the team with a .371 batting average and an A-Sun leading, 44 RBIs. After 17 games, FGCU lost starting first baseman, Nick Rivera for the season after breaking his wrist. Opponents are hitting .304 against the FGCU pitching staff anchored by returners Brady Anderson and Garrett Anderson.
