JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida baseball gets back to baseball at home with a four-game weekend series against Fordham beginning tomorrow. The Ospreys and Rams will play in UNF's lone doubleheader of the season this Saturday, while Sunday's game was moved up to 12:05 p.m. to accommodate Fordham's travel schedule.

GAME DETAILS
Dates: Friday, Mar. 3-Sunday, Mar. 5
Time: 6:05 p.m. | 1:05 p.m. (G2 after) | 12:05 p.m.
Location: Harmon Stadium
Opponent: Fordham
Watch: SWOOPLife Live
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com

Projected Starting Pitchers

Friday
Fordham | RHP Gabe Karslo
UNF | LHP Peter Holden

Saturday (G1)
Fordham | RHP Ben Kovel
UNF | LHP Tony Roca

Saturday (G2)
Fordham | TBA
UNF | TBA

Sunday
Fordham | RHP Declan Lavelle
UNF | RHP Avery Love
 
All-Time Series: Series even, 2-2

• Fordham and UNF met for four games back in 2019 at Harmon Stadium
• The two teams split the four-game set, with UNF winning in 12 innings during the opener and 7-4 in game three
• Will Ohme is the lone-current Osprey that played in that series. Ohme made his UNF debut against the Rams

 

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Run Up the Roundtrippers

• UNF has posted a multi-home run night in three-straight games
• The Ospreys rank first in the league with 18 home runs, good for 16th nationally
• UNF's two home runs per game average is good for 11th in DI
• UNF's 15 home runs through eight games was good for a UNF DI-era record

Weekend Streak

• UNF has won the first two three-game weekend series, taking two of three against Murray State and Villanova
• North Florida and Fordham will play four nine-inning games

Lance Bolsters Bullpen

• Through a team-best five outings, UNF reliever Lance Bolton has helped sure up the UNF bullpen early on
• The righty has held hitters to .100 through 8.2 innings, fanning 12 while spinning a 2.08 ERA

In-State Stretch

• Tuesday's game marked a midway point in UNF's 18-game streak of playing games inside the Florida state lines
• UNF doesn't leave the Sunshine State until March 17 when the Ospreys go to Austin Peay

 

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SCOUTING FORDHAM

• The Rams compete in the A-10 Conference
• Fordham is 0-6 this season after being swept at Dallas Baptist and Old Dominion
• Fordham is in its 163rd season as a program
• Michael Taylor leads the team with a .429 batting average
• Fordham has surrendered 14 home runs, while hitting two
• The Rams have been outscored 72-15
• Gabe Karslo has the team's best ERA for eligible pitchers at a 3.38 ERA over eight innings
• Fordham was tabbed ninth in the A-10 Preseason Coaches Poll

 

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MORE UNF NOTES

Newcomer Contributions
13 different Ospreys made their UNF debuts, with eight making their first-career starts. Peyton Sybrandt, Gabriel Esquivel, Alex Lodise, Finn Howell, Austin Brinling, Cherokee Nichols, Jakob Runnels and Avery Love all made their first-career starts. 

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.

First Game Magic
Eric Fouraker came in as defensive substitution last Wednesday and proceeded to single in his first at-bat. He went on to launch a two-run home run to left field in his next trip up, making him the second Osprey in five games to homer in their UNF debut, joining Alex Lodise.

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)