The University of North Florida Ospreys swept the Stetson Hatters this past weekend at Melching Field in DeLand, Florida.

In the opening game on Friday night, May 1, the Ospreys controlled the tempo with an 11-6 victory over the Hatters. UNF’s Donnie Dewees, redshirt sophomore majoring in sport management, went 4-for-4 in offense with a homerun at his first at bat. In the final two innings, the Hatters started a comeback with no luck of overcoming the Ospreys’ lead.

In the second game on Saturday, the Ospreys secured a 9-1 victory after an offensive spark in the sixth inning. Both teams went scoreless for four innings, but in the bottom of the fifth, the Hatters struck first and took a 1-0 lead. UNF’s Ryan Roberson, redshirt criminal justice senior, stoked the Ospreys’ offense with an RBI single to tie the game at the top of the sixth. The Ospreys would go on to score a total of 9 runs against the Hatters.

In the series finale on Sunday, UNF completed their shutout of the Hatters with a 5-0 victory. In the second inning, the Ospreys started their offensive charge when Nick Karmeris, redshirt business management junior, singled to right field, sending Roberson to home plate. UNF’s Corbin Olmstead, junior majoring in electrical engineering, hit a two-run homerun in the top of the fourth to give the Ospreys a 3-0 lead. After a Hatters error, the Ospreys scored two more runs in the top of the fifth. The Osprey defense held off the Hatters for the remainder of the game.

Dewees earned his fourth Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Week award in light of his performance over the weekend. He went 7-for-13 at the plate, scored five runs, had three RBIs and stole his 20th base of the season. With this accolade Dewees has become the first fielder in Atlantic Sun history to win the weekly honor four times in a single season. He is still leading the conference in most offensive categories and remains the top run scorer in the nation.

After an 11-0 shut out of Savannah State on Wednesday night in Georgia, the Ospreys will take their eight-game winning streak to Spartanburg, South Carolina to challenge USC Upstate on Friday, May 8 at 6 p.m. The crushing victory over Savannah State lent Dewees three hits on the night, pushing him to the top of the NCAA in hits with 87.

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