JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – North Florida baseball defeated Florida Gulf Coast, 5-2, to open the conference series at Harmon Stadium on Friday night.

North Florida improves to 16-10 overall, 5-2 ASUN. Junior right hander Will Ross turned in an impressive start with five strikeouts and no earned runs over 5.2 innings pitched.  
 
North Florida struck first with a two-run shot from junior Santiago Ordonez in the bottom of the second. Senior Cade Bush ripped a single to left field before Ordonez went yard in the next at-bat. 
 
The Ospreys continued to do damage in the frame with back-to-back base hits from senior Brady Browning and redshirt sophomore Nick Monile that plated two more and extend the lead to 4-0. 
 
Florida Gulf Coast added a run on a two-out error in the top of the fifth inning. A sac fly to right field from Browning drove in the final run for North Florida in the bottom of the eighth. 

Junior right handers Clay Hendry and Kaden Humphrey combined for five strikeouts and only two hits allowed over 3.1 innings of relief. 
 
PITCHERS OF RECORD
Win: Will Ross (5-1)
Loss: Chris Diaz (1-1)
Save: Kaden Humphrey (1)
 
LINE SCORES
UNF | 5 R, 10 H, 2 E, 7 LOB
FGCU | 2 R, 10 H, 0 E, 13 LOB

STATISTICAL LEADERS
FGCU
Harrison Povey | 2-4
Jake McKee | 1-1, RBI
 
UNF
Santiago Ordonez | 2-3, 2 RBI, HR, 2B
Brady Browning | 1-3, 2 RBI

UP NEXT
North Florida continues the series with doubleheader action on Saturday. The Ospreys will honor the 25th anniversary of the 2000 NCAA DII World Series team throughout the afternoon. First pitch for Game Two is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. The second game of the doubleheader will start an hour after the conclusion of the first game.