JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida baseball begins May and goes for the season series against UCF in the third meeting between the Ospreys and Knights on Tuesday, May 2 at 6 p.m.
UNF and UCF have split the first two games between each other this season, with North Florida taking the most recent matchup May 21 thanks to a walk-off three-run home run from
Jakob Runnels March 21 in a 4-2 win.
GAME DETAILS
Date: Tuesday, May 2
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Orlando, Fla.
Opponent: UCF
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com
Projected Starting Pitchers
UNF | RHP
Avery Love
UCF | RHP Ben Vespi
All-Time Series vs. UCF: UCF leads, 18-16
- North Florida took the last game between the two teams March 21, 4-2
- UNF tied a program record by fanning 17 Knights in that win
- Jakob Runnels hit a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth with two outs during that win
- The series is knotted up 9-9 in games played in Orlando
Last Time Out
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - UNF baseball got a stellar quality start from
Dominick Madonna,
Alex Lodise launched a three-run home run and
Cade Reich came up just short of a cycle, but Queens (11-31, 6-15 ASUN) scratched across two runs in both the eighth and ninth inning as the Ospreys were clipped in a heartbreaker, 7-6, Saturday, April 29 in the series finale.
Last Time vs. UCF
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After navigating around 16 stranded UCF runners, fanning 17 as a pitching staff and enduring three innings of consistent mist down the stretch,
Jakob Runnels followed up his two-homer game at UCF March 7 with a walk-off three-run home run off the scoreboard in the bottom of the ninth to down the Knights, 4-2.
Marking Off More Milestones
- Aidan Sweatt surpassed 100-career runs this past weekend, reaching that total in just 143 games
- The infielder is up to 175 hits and is hitting over .300 for the second-straight season
- In 143 games played, Sweatt has made 142 starts
Lodise Knocks off Another Record
- Alex Lodise moved past UNF Hall of Famer Donnie Dewees for the program single season freshman record in RBI this past weekend
- The freshman shortstop has 53 RBI on the year after going for eight last weekend
- Lodise ranks tied for fifth in the nation among freshmen in home runs
- He's also fourth in the nation in RBI among freshman
Awesome in the ASUN
- UNF has four players hitting above .300 during league play, paced by Cade Reich and Austin Brinling
- Reich leads North Florida in hitting during conference play, hitting .394 with 11 runs, 28 hits, five runs, two doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI and seven steals
- Brinling isn't far behind in the batting average column, hitting .385, although his table-setting numbers are through the roof. The outfielder has scored 24 runs, laced five doubles, driven in 14, walked 16 times and stolen seven bags.
Scouting UCF
- UCF is 24-19 and 6-9 in league play, posting a 17-12 record in home games
- The Knights dropped two of three in their home series against Houston this past weekend
- The Cougars stole Sunday's travel-curfew shortened game, 12-9, despite taking a 9-6 lead in the sixth
- UCF is paced by the power-hitting numbers of Ben McCabe, who became the program home run record holder. McCabe has hit 14 while driving in 35 and hitting .376
- Andrew Sundean is in the midst of a breakout year that sees him hitting .364 with 11 home runs and 39 RBI
- Projected starter and righty Ben Vespi is making his third start on the year. He has a good strikeout-to-walk ratio, fanning 20 while walking four, but he has allowed hitters to notch a .350 average against him
MORE UNF NOTES
Halstead Hauls in More Honors
After being tabbed to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason Stopper of the Year Watch List at the start of the season, Halstead earned a spot on the midseason squad thanks to his effort of six saves and a 2.50 ERA thus far.
The righty is one of 18 hurlers from the preseason list to make the midseason squad, with the finalists being announced in early June.
Dominant Madonna
- UNF baseball took a game in the road series at Liberty, the last series between the two teams as league foes
- North Florida won game two, 8-3, behind a nine-inning complete game effort from righty Dominick Madonna
- Madonna spun 128 pitches, 30 more than his previous career high, setting an innings pitched career high as well
- It was the first complete game by a UNF righty since 2019. The last UNF righty to throw a nine-inning complete game was Nick Marchese in April of 2019.
- Madonna has gone at least seven innings over each of his last three starts
- The righty is 3-0 over five appearances during April, fanning 21 in 33.1 innings
Brooks Wallace Watch List
- Alex Lodise was tabbed to the Brooks Wallace Watch List last week
- The freshman phenom was also named ASUN Player of the Week April 3, the first UNF freshman to earn that distinction since Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist Donnie Dewees in 2013
- Lodise joined former UNF assistant coach, Andrew Hannon, as Brooks Wallace Watch List selections
Touch 'em All
- North Florida surpassed the 60-home run milestone for the first time since hitting a DI-era record 71 on 2010
- UNF has 24 more home runs than all of last year
- North Florida is just nine home runs shy of setting the UNF DI-era single season home run record
Freshman Records
- Alex Lodise has already set the UNF single season freshman home run record, belting 14, five better than the previous record
- The shortstop is well on his way to more freshman records. He's third in runs (40), tied for fourth in doubles (11), tied for fourth in triples (2), first in RBI (53), sixth in hits (57) tied for second in stolen bases (6).
- Lodise scored five runs in a win against Fairfield this season, the most runs by a UNF freshman in a single game in at least the DI era
- With his two homer day Friday against Queens, Lodise set the UNF record for single season RBI among freshman
- Lodise had five hits Saturday April 1, tying the UNF DI era program record
- Lodise has two multi-home run games
Green Light Means Go
Walk-Off Dubs Hit Different
- UNF has won via walk-off six times this season
- The latest was one of the wildest as North Florida walked off on Florida State, 15-14, via a wild pitch in the bottom of the tenth
- March 25 Alex Lodise hit the first grand slam of his career with a towering big fly on a hanging breaking ball, sending UNF to a 16-6 mercy rule win
- One day later, Aidan Sweatt and Austin Brinling combined for three ninth inning RBI to give North Florida an 8-7 walk-off to clinch the series
- Former UCF Knight, Jakob Runnels, mashed a walk-off three-run home run with two outs in the ninth, giving North Florida a 4-2 win against UCF March 21
- In the first game of the year, Runnels hit a walk-off pinch hit RBI single in a 3-2 10-inning win against Murray State
- Drew Leinenbach put down a walk-off squeeze bunt in a 6-5 10-inning win against Fordham March 4
