Box Score (PDF)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An early offensive spurt and a strong pitching effort aided North Florida (20-12, 2-2 A-Sun) to a 7-4 victory over cross-town rival Jacksonville (17-12, 0-1 A-Sun) Friday night. The Ospreys have now won six of the last seven games played at John Sessions Stadium.
 
The Ospreys jumped all over A-Sun Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Michael Baumann early by plating five runs in their first three trips to the plate. The Dolphins never recovered and have dropped the last five meetings against North Florida. Four different Ospreys put forth multiple-hit efforts as the Osprey racked up a total 13 hits.
 
Baumann faced all nine batters in his first inning of work and surrendered RBI singles to Alex Merritt, Nick Karmeris and Chris Berry to open up a 4-0 lead in the top of the first. The first inning has been the most potent frame for the Ospreys, with 34 runs of their 229 runs this season coming in their first trip to the plate.
 
Senior Nick Karmeris recorded an RBI in his seventh-straight game and finished the night 3-for-5 with a double and run scored. He has put fourth three-hit efforts in back-to-back games for the Ospreys. Classmate Keith Skinner also collected three hits, finishing the night 3-for-5 with an RBI and run scored. He has three or more hits in four of his last five games and ups his season average to an A-Sun best, .414.
 
On the mound, Bryan Baker improved to 2-2 on the year after tossing five innings in an 89-pitch effort. He allowed only four hits and surrendered three runs in his eighth start of 2016. He fanned five batters on the night, the seventh time this year he has struck out five or more in a game.
 
Reliever Matthew Naylor took over for Baker in the sixth and recorded the four-inning save. He struck out six batters, striking out the side in the seventh and eighth innings. The longest outing of the season for Naylor comes after pitching in each of the previous five games for North Florida.
 
Senior Corbin Olmstead and the freshman Berry each collected two hits for North Florida in the contest. Olmstead was 2-for-4 with an RBI and extended his reached base streak to 25 games. Berry's two hits and two RBIs were both career highs. His single in the first inning capped the four-run Osprey rally in the first inning and his single in the third gave the Ospreys a 5-0 advantage.
 
As a team, the Ospreys stole a season-high three bases. Junior Chris Thibideau stole two and lead-off Patrick Ervin swiped his second bag in four games. Ervin reached base four times including two hit-by-pitches. He boasts a .444 on-base percentage in five games at the top spot of the lineup.
 
The two rivals will go back at it again on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. North Florida will have lefty Tyler DuPont (2-1) on the mound while Jacksonville will go with right-hander Nathan Disch (3-3). Prior to the game, Jacksonville University will honor its 1976 NCAA Regional team, a squad that current North Florida Head Coach Smoke Laval was a member of.