The bats were on fire for the UNF baseball team Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 18, as they defeated The Citadel 16-9 at Harmon Stadium.
Nick Karmeris got the offense rolling for the Ospreys in the second inning when he hit a three-run homer to left field to take the early lead. The Ospreys would score one more run in the second to make it 4-0 heading into the top of the third.
The Citadel answered quickly with a huge offensive third inning to make the score 8-4.
UNF tied the game up in the sixth inning. Bailey Rush, The Citadel’s third baseman, made a fielding error with the bases loaded to drive Trent Higginbothem home. Donnie Dewees then singled to short, bringing in Alex Merritt to make it 8-6. First baseman Ryan Roberson then singled up the middle, sending Patrick Ervin and Karmeris to score, tying the game at eight.
After holding The Citadel scoreless in the next inning, the Ospreys racked up seven runs in the seventh. Merritt got an RBI when he singled to the left side, which sent Higginbothem to his second run of the night. Designated hitter Bubba Olivera scored what would end up being the game-winning run when a failed pickoff attempt from The Citadel led to an error, allowing Olivera to cross home plate. The Ospreys brought in three more runs from Merritt, Garrick Ferguson and Roberson, increasing the lead to 15-8 at the end of the seventh.
The Citadel could only muster up one more run in the eighth when Jonathan Stokes crossed home, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. The cherry on the top for UNF was a triple from Ferguson, leading to another run for Karmeris.
The baseball team returns to action Friday, Feb. 20 at the Diamond Invitational in Pensacola, Fla. where they will face Nicholls State University at noon and University of Southern Mississippi at 8 p.m. On Saturday, the team takes on Troy University at 4 p.m., and on Sunday, they’ll play Saint Louis University at noon.
Gallery photos by Garrett Milanovich
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