CLEARWATER, Fla. – North Florida powered its way to two wins on the opening day of the Clearwater Spring Break Classic as it downed LIU and Buffalo on Friday afternoon.
QUICK GLANCE
Score: North Florida 4, LIU 1 | UNF 5, BUF 1
Records: North Florida (14-13) | LIU (8-17) | Buffalo (8-11)
GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
BOX SCORE (PDF) (Game 1) |
BOX SCORE (PDF) (Game 2)
TOP PERFORMERS
- Senior Alex Arciola went 5-for-7 with three doubles including a 4-for-4 outing against Buffalo. She also scored two runs and knocked in three runs.
- In the circle, sophomore Morgan Blourne tossed a two-hitter against UB with a career-high 12 strikeouts, while only allowing four walks.
- At the dish, junior Dominica Cocuzza posted a 4-for-7 days with three runs scored and added to her team-leading doubles total as she now owns 11.
- Sophomore Kayla McGory extended her reached base streak to nine games with a hit and a walk.
- Sydney Matzko earned the win in game one to move to 8-8 on the year.
GAME 1 CAPSULE
- Despite being outhit, North Florida made the right adjustments to pull out the victory.
- In the second, Taylor Scott sliced a single up the middle to allow two runs to come around. Megan Woodson and Mary Rodriguez reached base thanks to a pair of walks.
- The Blackbirds answered in the fourth when a leadoff double and a single followed by a walk loaded the bases with no outs. Matzko got the next batter swinging before a ground out put two outs on the board with the bases still juiced.
- A short hopper back to Matzko allowed one run to score, but kept the others on where they remained as the junior hurler sat the final batter down to end any more threat.
- North Florida extended its lead in the sixth when Aricola's double to left field brought in Cocuzza who reached on a single of her own before stealing second.
- Arciola advanced to third on an error on her hit as the outfield threw the ball away when trying to get the out at home. She then scored on a well-placed bunt from Ashley Niesman for the 4-1 advantage.
- Matzko finished her 13th complete game with eight hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
GAME 2 CAPSULE
- The Ospreys got on the board in the first inning when Niesman hit a two-out, two-RBI single to right field.
- Buffalo answered with a run of its own as a one-out double brought in a run before Blourne fanned the final two batters to end any more threat.
- From there, Blourne only allowed one batter to reach over the next three innings.
- UNF extended its lead in the third when Cocuzza led off with a double before switching places with Arciola for the 3-1 advantage. Casey Estes then hit a single down the line to bring in Arciola.
- Arciola once again used a hot bat to plate Scott who reached on a fielder's choice.
- Blourne and the Osprey defense only allowed four more to reach, but closed out any opportunities the Buffalo may have tried.
- With the win, Blourne moves to 3-5 on the year with 34 strikeouts.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Ospreys matched their season-high as they totaled 13 hits against Buffalo. UNF had 13 smacks vs. Providence earlier in the year.
- It was just the third time a UNF player recorded four hits in a game as Arciola joined Navia Penrod as the only other to accomplish the feat.
NEXT UP
North Florida continues at the Clearwater Spring Break Classic against Butler and Quinnipiac on Saturday.
