UNF baseball secures A-Sun championship

May 12, 2015

UNF Head Coach Smoke Laval is just the second baseball coach in North Florida’s history, replacing 23-year veteran Dusty Rhodes in 2010.Photo by Joslyn Simmons — UNF Head Coach Smoke Laval is just the second baseball coach in North Florida’s history, replacing 23-year veteran Dusty Rhodes in 2010.
*Photo courtesy UNF*

The UNF Ospreys secured the 2015 Atlantic Sun regular season championship with a sweep of the USC Upstate Spartans this past weekend in a three-game series in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

In the first game on May 8, the Ospreys (39-13, 14-4) made an 8-2 comeback-victory over the Spartans. After two errors by the Spartans, the Ospreys made two runs in the third inning. During the seventh inning, the Ospreys would break the 2-2 tie for a 5-2 lead. The Ospreys added three more runs during the homestretch to seal the victory.

On May 9, the Ospreys dominated the Spartans (15-34, 4-14) with a 12-6 victory. At the top of the third inning the Ospreys had accrued six runs. USC found some hope in the bottom of the fourth with two runs. The Trojans would go on to put up numbers in the seventh and eighth, but not enough to edge the Ospreys. UNF’s Trent Higginbothem found a new career-high with five RBIs. The Spartans had three errors in the game.

In the final May 10 game, the Ospreys swept the Spartans with another 8-2 victory. The Spartans made one run in the first inning before the Ospreys answered back with two runs of their own in the second. The Ospreys broke the tie-game with Ryan Roberson’s home run in the sixth inning. The Ospreys managed to rally off five more runs in the top of the ninth to secure the victory and complete the sweep of their opponents.

“Obviously it’s great,” said UNF Head Coach Smoke Laval about his team’s success. “You know that is what you come in here to do when the conference starts: it’s to be the A-Sun champions. It is some good fortune when you play the other teams, a lot of hard work that the players did, belief in themselves and staying within the team system. I think the part that is more rewarding than being A-Sun champs is the process of how they got to being the A-Sun champs.”

Next on the Ospreys’ schedule is a match up on May 12 against the UCF Knights in the Harmon Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m.

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