Unable to keep the streak alive, UNF baseball lost to No. 23 Florida 5-3, March 25, allowing Florida to even up the two-game series on the year.
The Ospreys scored first with a run in the top of the third inning that the Gators conceded in order to turn a double play. Florida countered with a run in the bottom of the third, and then scored another four runs over the next three innings.
And that was all it took to keep Florida in the driver’s seat.
“We fell behind early but kept fighting and came back,” UF head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said in a press release. “I was really impressed with the balanced lineup we had out there and I think that is the best one we have had this year.
The Ospreys tried to rally in the later innings scoring two runs off a single by Junior second basemen TJ Thompson. The hit to right field was ruled a trap by the umpires.
Going into the ninth, just two runs down, the Ospreys got a couple of runners on base but were unable to produce any runs as Florida’s Billy Bullock recorded his fourth save of the season.
Sophomore pitcher, Robbie Collier, recorded the loss dropping him to 0-2, while Florida’s Justin Poovey improves to 2-0. North Florida did accumulate more runs than Florida did, 6-5, in the mini-series.
The game also saw the second straight appearance of a streaker when the two teams have played each other. On March 24, during a UNF 3-0 win over UF, a streaker was seen running across the outfield of UNF’s Harmon Stadium and was pursued and arrested by police.
With this loss, the Ospreys continue to struggle with a record of 9-16, 3-6 in conference play. Since the Ospreys are not eligible for post-season until next season, the best the team can do is win a regular season title.
The chances of that happening are unlikely as the Ospreys are five games out of first with 15 conference games left this season.
UNF now enters a four-game road trip before hosting Eastern Tennessee State University April 4.