LOUISVILLE, Ky. - North Florida baseball (14-10, 4-3) fought back from down eight runs to make it a two-score game in the eighth inning, but Bellarmine (2-23, 1-6) put up enough insurance to hand the Ospreys a 12-6 loss on Thursday afternoon.
With the road loss against the Knights, UNF dropped its first series opener of the season, as well as its first road loss in conference play. The Ospreys started six consecutive weekends with a win with Friday victories against Delaware, Yale, Dartmouth, Seton Hall, Queens and Central Arkansas.
Bellarmine built up an early four-run lead through the first three innings, which turned into an 8-0 game by the sixth. RBI hits from
Jabin Bates,
Cherokee Nichols and
Drew Leinenbach highlighted a six-run eighth that put UNF back into the game. The Knights responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning to wrap up the six-run road defeat.
BELL 12, UNF 6
Pitchers of Record
Win: Steven Thom (1-1)
Loss: Clayton Boroski (1-2)
Line Scores
UNF | 6 R, 9 H, 5 E, 7 LOB
BELL | 12 R, 13 H, 1 E, 12 LOB
Statistical Leaders
UNF
Drew Leinenbach | 2-4, 2 RBI, R
Jabin Bates | 1-5, 2 RBI, R
Cherokee Nichols | 1-5, RBI, R
Zane Starling | 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 51 pitches
BELL
Casey Sorg | 3-6, 3 RBI, 2 R
Will Aubel | 5-6, R
Luke Scales | 2-4, 5 R, 1 BB
Steven Thom | 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 47 pitches
NOTES
- Fourth multi-RBI game of the season for Bates as an Osprey.
- Second time this season and sixth time in his career that Leinenbach recorded multi-hits and RBIs.
- Zane Starling reached four strikeouts for second time on the season in only 1.2 innings pitched.
- Tripp McKinlay notched a hit in 12 of the last 14 games and multiple hits in seven of those contests.
UP NEXT
The Ospreys will be back for round two against the Knights on Friday, Mar. 29, at 2:30 p.m., in Louisville, Ky.
