The University of North Florida baseball team had its wings clipped Wednesday night, as they lost 11-1 in 7 innings in Statesboro against Georgia Southern. The result saw the Ospreys fall to 15-10 on the season while the Eagles improved to 15-9.
Georgia Southern started strong in the batter’s box against the Osprey starting pitcher, junior right-hander Ryan Furey. Outfielder Josh Tate led the inning off with a single and stole second base a few pitches later. After advancing to third base on a fly ball to right field, he scored on a single laced through the left side by fellow outfielder Sean Smith.
The Eagles continued to pile on pressure in the third inning. Furey pitched himself into a jam, with catcher Sean White hitting a single and Daniel Haab getting hit by a pitch in the next at-bat. After getting the first out of the frame on a shallow pop-up, Furey left a fastball out over the plate that infielder Cade Parker didn’t miss, as he launched it over the left field wall for a three-run home run. This was the end of the evening for Furey, as he finished the night throwing 2.1 innings, allowing five hits and four earned runs on three walks and a strikeout.
His replacement, freshman right-hander Trevor Nikolis, ran into some trouble. He walked two consecutive batters before Eagles infielder Nico Senese hit what looked to be a routine pop-up that could’ve ended the inning. However, junior second baseman Finn Howell couldn’t make the play, as the ball hit off the side of his glove and rolled into the outfield grass, allowing another run to score.
The Ospreys plated their lone run in the top of the 4th inning. Senior first baseman Cade Bush led things off with a walk, followed by a single off the bat of freshman right fielder Carter White to put men on the corner bases. Junior catcher Santiago Ordonez cashed in, lining a single into left field to score Bush and make it a 5-1 contest. Ordonez and White both finished the night going 2-3 in the batter’s box.
The Eagles responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame. Daniel Haab led off the inning with a fly ball that Carter White nearly managed to make a play on, but the ball popped out of his glove, allowing Haab to stroll into third. Designated hitter Jonathan Jaime followed that up with an infield single to score him. Jaime later scored on an RBI single by infielder Luke Odden to extend the Eagles’ lead to 7-1.
The Ospreys attempted to rally back in the 6th inning, loading the bases with two outs in the frame. Head coach Joe Mercadante made the call to pinch hit freshman utility man Seth Alford for senior third baseman Brady Browning, but he grounded out to second base to end the threat.
Georgia Southern scored three more runs over the next two innings to end the contest early. Sean Smith collected another RBI single that this time scored Luke Odden in the bottom of the 6th, followed by a Josh Tate double that plated another run in the 7th. Nico Senese then finished the job, singling into center field and scoring Tate from second, ending the night in walk-off fashion and giving the Statesboro crowd a reason to celebrate.
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