JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - UNF baseball plays its first midweek baseball games of the year when the Ospreys host former ASUN rival, USC Upstate, for a pair of contests.
GAME DETAILS
Dates: Tuesday, Feb. 21 | Wednesday, Feb. 22
Time: 6:05 p.m. & 3:05 p.m.
Location: Harmon Stadium
Opponent: USC Upstate
Watch: SWOOPLife Live
Live Stats: unfospreys.com
All-Time Series: UNF leads, 46-10
- UNF is 27-4 all-time at home against USC Upstate
- North Florida went 24-9 against USC Upstate as league foes
- The Ospreys last played the Spartans April 8, 2018, sweeping the Spartans that year
Starting Pitchers
Tuesday
UNF | RHP
Dominick Madonna
USCU | LHP Al Holguin
Wednesday
UNF | TBA
USCU | RHP Mathieu Curtis
Sunday Explosion
- UNF scored 17 runs on 20 hits Sunday against Murray State, earning a series win against the Racers. It was UNF's most hits since April of last year at USF, while the 17-run output was the most since March of last year against Boston College.
- The Ospreys had three players hit their first-career home runs at UNF, with Cade Reich, Peyton Sybrandt and Cherokee Nichols doing so.
- Austin Brinling slashed five hits, the most since 2021 ASUN Player of the Year Alex Kachler did so April 25, 2021 against Jacksonville. Reich wasn't too far behind, finishing a triple short of the cycle.
- Nine different players scored at least one run, Nichols had four RBI and nine Ospreys tallied at least one hit.
- As a team, UNF stole five bags, the most since April of last season when UNF swiped six against JU.
Newcomer Contributions
Lodise's Memorable Debut
- Freshman Alex Lodise had quite the UNF debut. The shortstop made a slick play in the field to end a scoring threat and responded with a solo home run to right center in the bottom of the inning, getting UNF on the board.
- He was the first Osprey to homer in their UNF debut as true freshman since UNF great Tyler Marincov did in 2011.
Season-Opening Dramatics
- Transfer Jakob Runnels delivered the pinch-hit walk-off RBI single down the left field line, scoring Cade Reich for the 3-2 win in the season opener Friday night. Runnels came through in his first-career at-bat at UNF, providing the Ospreys with their second walk-off win in the season opener in four seasons after winning via a balk-off in 2020 against VMI.
SCOUTING USC UPSTATE
- USC Upstate is coming off a three-game sweep of Towson this past weekend
- The Spartans outscored the Tigers by a combined 21 runs over the three-game series
- Upstate is coming off a 2022 season that saw them go 35-22-1 and 17-6-1 in conference play
- Despite the strong regular season, USC Upstate was eliminated from the conference tournament after a 1-2 performance
- The Spartans were tabbed to finish second in the Big South Preseason Coaches Poll for the second-straight year
- 2022 Big South Freshman of the Year Noah Sullivan and First Team All-Conference outfielder Noah Rabon highlight the returners for USC Upstate
- USC Upstate is known for its offense, hitting .296 as a team a year ago while averaging over seven runs per game
- Al Holguin will be making his second appearance of the season Tuesday, while Wednesday will see the debut of Mathieu Chris
MORE UNF NOTES
At a Glance
- UNF's roster features 35 active players,with 18 newcomers. North Florida brings back four starters and 16 that have already earned letters. UNF's coaching staff looks a little different this year as well. Brady Bogart joins in his first season on the staff, serving as an assistant and as the primary pitching coach.
- Kyle Brooks returns for his fifth season overall and 2nd in an assistant role.
Preseason Selection
- Junior infielder Aidan Sweatt was named to the ASUN Baseball Preseason All-Conference squad. Sweatt is UNF's first preseason-conference pick since future MLB Draft picks Brad Deppermann and Tanner Murphy were selected in 2019.
- Sweatt is the first UNF infielder to be tabbed to the preseason team since Alex Merritt was picked back in 2017. He is one of five infielders honored this season in the 14-team league.
- The junior is coming off a 2022 campaign that saw him earn Second Team All-ASUN honors. The middle infielder hit .329 with 70 hits, 32 runs, eight doubles, three home runs, 38 RBI and had eight stolen bags.
- As a freshman, Sweatt started all but one game, earning unanimous all-freshman honors after hitting .282 with 28 runs and 14 doubles. He is just one game shy of 100 games played for his career and two games started away from 100.
Veteran Lefties
- UNF returns two veteran lefties that are projected to earn significant innings as starters this season.
- Southpaw Peter Holden found a groove after being inserted into the weekend rotation last April. Holden finished the season with Second Team All-ASUN honors, working his way into the Friday night slot with solid outing after solid outing. He finished the season 4-3 with a 3.41 ERA, one complete game and 68.1 innings worked. He would also be named to the ASUN All-Academic Team.
- Local lefty Tony Roca returns with144 innings worked and 126 strikeouts in his fourth season in the Navy and Gray.
Home Grown
As has become the theme for UNF baseball, North Florida's active-35 man roster features 33 players from the Sunshine State. A number of them come from the 904 area or nearby counties. High schools such as Bishop Kenny, Clay, Bartram Trail, Creekside, Paxon, Fletcher, Ponte Vedra and more are featured on the UNF roster.
Sophomore 'Spreys
A number of freshmen during the 2022 season are now primed for their sophomore seasons after contributing significant time last year.
Tyler Gerteisen and
Drew Leinenbach saw ample time last year, while relievers
Clayton Boroski and
Scott Griesemer earned valuable experience during their freshman seasons.
Hold It Down Halstead
Righty reliever
Stephen Halstead is back for his senior season. The Pensacola, Fla., native was named to the 2022 NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List. He is one of the most effective bullpen arms in the league, turning in a 3.07 ERA, .245 opponents' batting average and 60 strikeouts across 40 appearances.
Schedule Notes
- 34 home games, 22 road games and 43 games in Florida
- UNF plays ASUN newcomers: Austin Peay (March 17-19) and Queens (April 28-30)
- Eight-game home stand to start the year, the longest since 1994 and tied for the longest in UNF history
- 19 games against in-state teams
- 26 non-conference games and 30 in ASUN play
- River City Rumble is set for May 18-20 at JU
- Four games against Power Five teams (Florida State, South Carolina, and Florida (two))
- Fourth-straight year playing at South Carolina
- UNF hosts FSU for the first time since 2010
- First time playing USC Upstate since 2018, the last year the Spartans played in the ASUN
- 12 games against first-time foes, made up of four three-game series (Murray State, Villanova, UCA and Queens)
- Five games marks the longest road stretch of the year (May 2-9)
- Nine-game homestand is the longest of the year (April 6-19)
- 30 ASUN games
- One doubleheader (March 4 vs. Fordham)
