JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Baseball starts off 2019 in a big way when it hosts Missouri for a three-game series Friday, Feb. 15 - Sunday, Feb. 17. Only one other time has UNF hosted a series with an SEC program, back in 2008 when Mississippi State came to Jacksonville for three games.

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Setting the Table
What: Missouri at North Florida
Where: Dusty Rhodes Field at Harmon Stadium - Jacksonville, Fla.
When: Friday, Feb. 15 (6:05 p.m.), Saturday, Feb. 16 (2:05 p.m.), Sunday, Feb. 17 (1:05 p.m.)
Series History: First-ever meeting

Toeing the Rubber

Friday
UNF - RHP Brad Deppermann
Missouri - LHP Tyler LaPlante

Saturday
UNF - RHP Brandon Reitz
Missouri - LHP Art Joven

Sunday
UNF - RHP Max McKinley
Missouri - Jacob Cantleberry

North Florida

• The Ospreys finished last season 28-28, 10-11 in conference play and were selected to finish sixth in the 2019 ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll. UNF reached the conference title game a year ago before falling to a 48-win Stetson squad.
• Junior Tanner Murphy and redshirt-senior hurler Brad Deppermann were selected to the ASUN Preseason All-Conference team. Murphy tallied 10 home runs last year, good for second in the league, while Deppermann had an impact as a starter and reliever, fanning 63 while notching five saves.
• UNF returns eight position players who made appearances in at least half of the Ospreys' games in 2018.
• 77 appearances were made a year ago by returners on the 2019 pitching staff. The Ospreys lost Frank German to the MLB Draft last year after he became the highest draft pick in UNF history among Osprey right-handed pitchers. Lefty Austin Drury also took the next step after last year, being selected in the 34th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• UNF has faced an impressive list of teams in season opener since turning to the Division I level in 2006. The list among others includes:
  • at Coastal Carolina (2007)
  • Mississippi State (2008)
  • No. 14 Ohio State (2010)
  • West Virginia (2013)
• UNF went 1-2 in its season-opening series against Radford a year ago.

Missouri

• Missouri plays the first three of its season-opening eight-game road trip through the Sunshine State.
• Mizzou has gone 19-6 over the last three years opening the season in Florida.
• The Tigers were picked to finish seventh and last in the SEC Eastern Division according to the 2019 SEC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll. They received 26 points, while Vanderbilt tallied 87 atop the Eastern Division.
• The Columbia, Mo., squad went 34-22 and 12-18 in the SEC last season.
• Junior outfielder Kameron Misner headlines the Missouri offense, receiving Preseason Second-Team All-American laurels from Baseball America and Perfect Game / Rawlings. He was also named to the 2019 Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List.
• Misner, a sophomore, missed 22 games last season but hit .360 with 12 extra-base hits prior to being sidelined by his injury.
• Lefty TJ Sikkema was a 2017 Freshman All-American, fanning 76 in 70 frames of work en route to a 3.34 ERA.
• The Tigers have a 10-man freshman class. IF/RHP Seth Halvorsen was selected in the 30th round by the Minnesota Twins in the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft and named Gatorade Minnesota Player of the Year. Southpaw Trae Robertson was also chosen in the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft, earning a 38th round selection by the Kansas City Royals.