Smoke Laval Wins No. 200 at UNF, @OspreyBSB Blanks NJIT

Thursday, May 19

Newark, N.J.

6:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

35-17, 13-6

NJIT

17-34, 2-16

North Florida

NJIT

5/19/2016 9:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Scott Fitzgerald | Athletic Communications

Box Score (PDF)
NEWARK, N.J. – Head Coach Smoke Laval won his 200^th game at North Florida after the Ospreys (35-17, 13-6 A-Sun) shutout NJIT (17-34, 2-16 A-Sun), 6-0 at Riverfront Stadium. Laval has now won 200-plus games at three different schools (North Florida, University of Louisiana-Monroe and LSU).

Starting pitcher Bryan Baker set the tone with five shutout innings, allowing only one hit. He struck out four and retired nine of the last 10 batters faced for his fifth win of the season. He combined for his second shutout of the year and cut his ERA down to 2.20 ERA, the lowest in the A-Sun.

Redshirt junior Tyler DuPont came on to pitch the next 3.1 innings and struck out two batters. Right-hander Matthew Naylor closed the door in the bottom of the ninth by striking out the final two batters. Naylor preserved the shutout by stranding the bases loaded to end the game.

In his homecoming, catcher Keith Skinner recorded hits in his first two at bats and was 2-for-5 with an RBI on the night. The Berkeley Heights, N.J. native drove in the first Osprey run in the top of the third inning. He leads the Atlantic Sun with a .388 batting average and a .478 on-base percentage.

Freshman Chris Berry had a game-high three hits on a 3-for-4 night at the plate. He recorded his second triple of the year in the seventh inning and scored the Ospreys third run of the game in the top of the fourth inning.

Senior Dakota Higdon was the other Osprey multi-hit performer with a 2-for-4 effort. He capped a two-run rally in the fourth with an RBI single to right centerfield.

The Ospreys scored five runs between the third and fifth innings with two-run frames in the fourth and fifth innings.

Junior Alex Merritt scored twice in the contest and stole home on double steal in the fifth inning. He was 1-for-4 with his 41^st RBI of the year.

Due to impending weather, the Ospreys and Highlanders will play a doubleheader Friday beginning at 1:00 p.m. The second game follows NJIT's senior day ceremony and will begin approximately at 4:00 p.m. Both games will be available via a live stream and the first game can be heard live on an internet only broadcast on 1010XL.com. The second game is scheduled to be available on 1010 AM as well as 1010XL.com.