JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida baseball (21-29-1, 11-16-1) produced runs in its second game of the series after its senior night festivities honoring 11 graduates, but dropped its matchup against Florida Gulf Coast (28-24, 19-10), 8-4, on Friday evening at Harmon Stadium.

Tony Roca went just under five innings and over 100 pitches with seven strikeouts to become the UNF D-I program leader for most career strikeouts with 242 total over his five seasons with the team. The Ospreys also set a D-I single season program record for most team strikeouts, exceeding the old mark of 438 total.

UNF jumped out to a quick lead after senior day honoree Jakob Runnels continued the celebration with a solo homer in the first inning. FGCU responded in the next innings with a pair of runs, but a rebuttal was made immediately with balls in play from Eric Fouraker and Finn Howell to regain the lead.

An RBI-triple from FGCU score a pair of runs to turn the lead back over, but the fourth inning ended with a tied 4-4 score after another RBI hit from the Ospreys, courtesy of Connor Moore. The Eagles scored once again in the fifth and sixth innings to take the lead and expand it to four runs, as the score stayed 8-4 through the final pitch.

FGCU 8, UNF 4

Pitchers of Record
Win: Cameron Bye (3-0)
Loss: Tony Roca (5-4)
Save: Lucas Hartman (1)

Line Scores
FGCU | 8 R, 8 H, 1 E, 9 LOB
UNF | 4 R, 7 H, 2 E, 6 LOB

Statistical Leaders
UNF
Jakob Runnels | 1-3, RBI, R, BB, solo HR
Finn Howell | 1-3, RBI
Connor Moore | 1-5, RBI
Tony Roca | 4.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 7 K, 107 pitches

FGCU
Harrison Povey | 2-5, 3 RBI, 2 R
Ian Farrow | 2-5, 2 RBI, R
Mac Moise | 2-4, 2 R, BB
Lucas Hartman | 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 49 pitches

UP NEXT

The Ospreys will cap off its regular season finishing out the weekend series against Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday, May 18, with first pitch set for 1 p.m., at Harmon Stadium.