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University of North Florida Athletics

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FIRST PITCH - North Florida Welcomes Notre Dame For Opening Weekend Series

First Matchup Against Fighting Irish Since 2003

2/13/2025 3:00:00 PM

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida begins its 2025 season with a three-game weekend series against Notre Dame at Harmon Stadium.

UNF enters its second season of the Joe Mercadante era and are searching for their first postseason berth since 2022. In 2024, the Ospreys were 21-30-1 and finished ninth in the ASUN standings.

Scouting Notre Dame

Under Shawn Stiffler, the Fighting Irish went 27-25 during the 2024 season, winning only nine games in ACC play. Headlining Notre Dame’s offense in 2025 will be Estevan Moreno, Joey Spence, and Brady Gumpf. The trio contributed to an offense that slugged 87 home runs during the ‘24 season. Moreno cracked thirty extra-base hits and drove in 40 runs. 

The 2025 pitching staff will also benefit from a few returners. The entire weekend rotation pitched at some point in 2024. Jack Radel recorded a team high four wins and both Jackson Dennies and Rory Fox made starts last season. A successful 2025 is dependent on the rotation bouncing back, as the 2024 squad pitched to an ERA of 5.89.

Key Returners

In addition to a large group of newcomers, North Florida has a solid group of returners that bring multiple years of UNF Baseball experience to the table. Outfielder Drew Leinenbach enters his senior season with the Ospreys and will see his fair share of playing time in the outfield. Infielders Cade Bush and Connor Moore were both Florida State transfers the year prior and are coming off of strong offensive seasons. On the pitching side, Will Ross and Jordan Wimpelberg both have earned starting roles in the weekend rotation. They made a combined 31 appearances last season, totaling 56 innings pitched.

Starting Pitchers

Friday - RHP Jack Radel vs. RHP Ryan Furey

Saturday - RHP Jackson Dennies vs. RHP Will Ross

Sunday - RHP Rory Fox vs. RHP Jordan Wimpelberg

First pitch on Feb 14. is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Game two on Saturday will begin at 3 p.m and Sunday’s matinee has been moved up to 11 a.m.

UNF will have all three games broadcasted this weekend on ESPN+. Updates for each game will be made through live stats, as well as on X/Twitter at @OspreyBSB and Instagram at @OspreysBSB.


Player		ABRHRBIBBSOLOB
LFGerteisen, Tyler301000
PH/LF    Oman, James211200
CRunnels, Jakob201110
PH/C    Fouraker, Eric010010
PH    Maddox, Eli000010
RFNichols, Cherokee411011
3BMcKinlay, Tripp310011
1BBush, Cade200001
PH/1B    Cline, Fletcher211200
CFLeinenbach, Drew200001
CF    Reich, Cade111210
DHEsquivel, Gabriel402001
2BHowell, Finn200000
PH    Witherington, Connor211100
2B    Leonard, Cal000000
SSMoore, Connor212000
PH/SS    Clements, Matthew200001
PFisher, Bryce000000
P    Adams, Brandon000000
P    Bolton, Lance000000
P    Starling, Zane000000
P    Love, Avery000000
P    Ohme, Will000000
P    Wimpelberg, Jordan000000
 Totals33811866

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - After fighting through the elements with a two-hour delay in the fourth inning, North Florida baseball (21-30-1, 11-17-1) dropped its regular season finale against Florida Gulf Coast (29-24, 20-10), 18-8, on Saturday afternoon at Harmon Stadium.

The Ospreys needed a win against FGCU to advance to conference postseason play next week, but couldn't pull out the victory at home. UNF was ambushed throughout the game with multiple runs scored in each of the middle innings. The Ospreys put together an impressive comeback with seven runs in the seventh inning, including a two-run bomb from James Oman for his first hit of the season, but it wasn't enough during the series and season finale in a run-rule against the Eagles.

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UNF BASEBALL UPCOMING SLATE

OPENING DAY WEEKEND | vs Notre Dame

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