Baseball Clipped in Seesaw Game at Austin Peay, 9-7

Saturday, March 18

Clarksville, Tenn.

2 p.m. (EST)

University of North Florida

11-9, 1-1

Austin Peay

7-12, 1-1

North Fla.

Austin Peay

Aidan Sweatt stepping up to the plate against Fairfield

Sweatt and Brinling combined to go 2-for-4 with five runs and six walks.

Photo by: Natavia Reddick

3/18/2023 5:57:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Game Sees Four Ties, UNF Gets Go-Ahead Run to the Plate in Ninth

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - North Florida and Austin Peay played to four ties and three lead changes as the Ospreys (11-9, 1-1 ASUN) got the go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth, but Austin Peay (7-12, 1-1 ASUN) produced enough offense to hang on late as UNF was clipped in Saturday's game, 9-7.

North Florida reached double-digit hits for the second-straight time in the series, but half of Austin Peay's 14 hits were extra-base knocks. UNF walked twice to open the ninth, but APSU wriggled out of the jam with two strikeouts and a fly out on a shallow flare in center for the final out.

Fletcher Cline put up his best day yet at the plate, going 3-for-3 with 4 RBI and two doubles, while Aidan Sweatt and Austin Brinling caused havoc at the top of the order with a combined 2-for-4, five runs and six walks.

APSU 9, UNF 7

Pitchers of Record
Win: Kyle Magrans (2-0)
Loss: Dominick Madonna (2-2)
Save: Davin Pollar (2)

Line Scores
UNF | 7R, 10H, 0E, 7 LOB
APSU | 9R, 14H, 0E, 8 LOB

Behind the Line Score

The first three innings featured 11 combined hits and nine combined runs as the offenses filled the basepaths.
UNF struck first in the top half of the opening inning when Cline doubled in Sweatt and Brinling with a double from the right-side of the plate.
Austin Peay replied, tying it up with its own two-RBI double from Jaden Brown.
Blake Pound pounced on a 3-2 offering for a double to left center, opening the second. He was balked over to third and plated by a Cade Reich single through the right side.
Austin Peay took its first lead of the series in the bottom half of the second. Two singles and a successful steal of home on a pickoff to first evened it up, 3-3. The Governors' power-hitting Garrett Martin hit a go-ahead two-run home run over the 30-foot wall in center.
North Florida scratched one back in the third, doing damage at the top of the lineup once more. Brinling walked, Jakob Runnels singled and Cline drove in Brinling with a single through the left side.
The seesaw slugfest continued in the fourth with UNF's three-run fourth inning. Singles from Reich and Sweatt were followed up by a Runnels sac fly. With two outs, Cline ripped an RBI double inside the third base bag, scoring Sweatt. Brinling, who walked earlier, evaded a tag at the plate to make it 7-5 UNF.
Austin Peay knocked on the door of tying the game up in the fourth, but Alex Lodise delivered a picture-perfect one hopper from shallow left on a relay play off a double, getting the Austin Peay baserunner at the plate. Pound made a nice play on a three-unassisted one batter later, ending the frame.
The Governors brought the game to its fourth tie at 7-7 in the 5th. An RBI single and sac fly gave the hosts two runs in the frame. It could have been worse, but Reich fired a strike to third on a runner aiming to advance from first to third earlier in the inning.
Two hard-hit doubles and a single gave the Governors a 9-7 lead in the seventh.
Back-to-back walks opened UNF's ninth, although APSU turned in consecutive swinging strikeouts. Lodise worked a deep count and fouled off multiple pitches before nearly tying the game with a flare to center. The ball was caught just past the infield.

Statistical Leaders
UNF

Aidan Sweatt | 2-for-3, 2R, 2BB
Austin Brinling | 0-for-1, 3R, 4BB
Fletcher Cline 3-for-3, 4RBI, 2 2B
Cade Reich | 2-for-4, R, RBI, SB, outfield assist

APSU

Lyle Miller-Green | 2-for-4, R, 2 2B, BB
Garrett Martin | 2-for-4, 2R, 2RBI, 2B, HR, BB

Notes

Trent Becker made the first start of his UNF career
Reich has expanded his reached-base streak to 18 games
UNF got the leadoff runner on in six innings
UNF still has a chance to win its fifth-straight weekend series tomorrow
North Florida hasn't homered for three-straight games. North Florida hadn't gone more than one game without a home run prior to this stretch
Cline posted his second multi-RBI game this season with a season-best four RBI
UNF is still hitting over .300 as a team
Runnels is on a team-best nine-game hitting streak
Sweatt and Brinling reached base in eight of their 10 combined plate appearances
The duo combined for six walks, with four coming from Brinling
Sweatt and Brinling combined for five of UNF's seven runs
Brinling is the first Osprey to walk four times in a game since Isaiah Byars did so May 22, 2021 against Stetson
19 of UNF's 22 hits in this series have been via a single. The other three have come from two Cline doubles and another double from Pound