Ospreys Just Short in Series Opener at Liberty, 4-3

Friday, March 29

Lynchburg, Va.

6:00 p.m.

University of North Florida

16-12, 2-2

Liberty

19-6, 3-1

North Florida

Liberty

Deppermann fanned eight Friday night.

3/29/2019 9:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Ospreys (16-12, 2-2 ASUN) got the tying run 90 feet from home, but Liberty (19-6, 3-1 ASUN) hung on to take the series opener at the Liberty Baseball Stadium Friday night, March 29.

The Ospreys outhit the Flames, 9-7, falling to 11-2 on the season when out-hitting their opponent.

Liberty 4, UNF 3
Pitchers of Record
Win: Andrew McInvale (6-0)
Loss: Brad Deppermann (2-2)
Save: Evan Brabrand (8)

Line Scores
UNF | 3 R, 9 H, 0 E, 6 LOB
Liberty | 4 R, 7 H, 1 E, 3 LOB

Behind the Line Score

Jay Prather extended his team-best hitting streak to nine games with a single in the first. He moved to second on a Tanner May base hit, but was eventually thrown out at third upon review as he attempted to advance on an off-speed delivery in the dirt.
UNF got in scoring position again in the second, but couldn't push one across.
Liberty took a 2-0 lead in the second. Brandon Rohrer got sawed off but landed a single in right center. Lefty Logan Mathieu went the other way, landing a two-run home run into the bullpen in straight away left.
The Ospreys cut the deficit in half in the third. Tanner Murphy hooked a one-out double inside third, and Austin Hurwitz clubbed him home with an RBI ground rule double into the gap in right center, getting over the wall in one bound.
Wes Weeks was better than two official reviews to score UNF's second run. Berry reached on a fielding error by Liberty's second baseman atop the fourth. Wes Weeks rolled one to third, reaching on a fielder's choice before swiping second. Weeks was originally ruled out at second on the steal attempt, but the first review proved otherwise. One pitch after the review, Alex Reynolds ripped a single to right. Weeks was called out again on the throw to the plate, but after the second review of the frame, the redshirt-senior was called safe, tying the game at two.
The Flames quickly took the 4-2 lead in the fourth. Tyler Galazin and Rohrer reached on singles, advanced another base with a wild pitch, and Mathieu plated Galazin with a deep sacrifice fly to left center. Cam Locklear scored Rohrer with a double into right center.
Weeks tripled to right center and scored on an RBI groundout by Reynolds, cutting the deficit to 4-3 in the seventh.
UNF came within 90 feet of tying the game in the ninth. Weeks opened the ninth with a single through the left side and later stole second after Brabrand got a pair of strikeouts. He advanced another 90 feet on a wild pitch as Tanner Clark came on as a pinch hitter. Clark hit a sharp one hopper to second, but Wagner got in front of it and recorded the final out at first.

Statistical Leaders
UNF

Prather | 2-for-4
Weeks | 2-for-4, 2 R, 3B, 2 SB
Deppermann | 8.0 IP, 8 K, 4 ER, 7 H, 0 BB

Liberty

Mathieu | 2-for-4, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR
McInvale | 6.1 IP, 6 K, BB, 7 H, 3 R
Brabrand | 2.2 IP, 3 K, 2 H, 0 ER

Notes

Friday was UNF's first game outside of the state of Florida this season.
This was meeting number seven between these two teams. It's the first time that they met as ASUN foes, and their first encounter in Virginia.
Liberty leads the all-time series, 4-3.
Prather extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Hurwitz recorded his first extra-base hit as an Osprey.
Berry now has 104 career walks, needing only nine more to match the UNF Division I record.
This is Deppermann's sixth consecutive start of at least 5.0 innings. He's reached that mark six of seven starts this year. He went a season-long 8.0 innings.
Deppermann dealt the first complete game of the season for the Ospreys.
Deppermann has 180 career strikeouts, good for fourth all-time in UNF's Division I history. He already has more punchouts than he did in 53.1 innings of work in 2017.
Weeks' triple is just the second of the year for UNF.
Tonight's game marked the midway point for the regular season.