Featured Image: Justin Nedrow

While being on the receiving end of a sweep is never desirable, the weekend series between UNF and FGCU was a lot closer than the results may imply. 

With the FGCU Eagles coming to town for a weekend series, things got off to an odd start when Thursday and Friday start times were pushed up earlier in the day due to an electrical issue. Despite the absence of lights, both teams brought their own electricity in Thursday’s high-scoring opener.

A late-game push on Thursday fell just short as FGCU took the opener 12-11. Losing one game in this fashion is crushing, but losing two in a row this way is nearly unbearable. Unfortunately for the Ospreys, this was the fate they suffered with a 6-5 loss on Friday.

Following two close losses, there was still hope going into Saturday’s rubber match. Getting the start for UNF was Tony Roca, who would go on to post six scoreless innings. This stellar performance also included five strikeouts while only giving up three hits.

In a weekend full of offense, it didn’t take long for UNF to get the bats going. A sacrifice-fly by Alex Kachler got the Ospreys on the board, going up 1-0. This was followed up by Trey Spratling-Williams RBI groundout, giving UNF a 2-0 lead at the conclusion of the first inning.

Kachler was not done wreaking havoc, as he ripped an RBI double deep into left to give UNF a 4-0 lead after two innings. An Aidan Sweatt single brought in another run in the sixth, extending the Osprey lead to 5-0. This would, unfortunately, go on to be the last positive aspect of the game for UNF.

A base-clearing double by FGCU’s Ian Farrow finally got the Eagles on the board, as the UNF lead shrunk to 5-3 after seven innings. Two more FGCU runs in the eighth would tie the game at five runs apiece. 

Timely pitching by FGCU stifled the UNF offense in the later innings of the game. The Ospreys just couldn’t get anything going. It began to look like the course of the game had reversed entirely, with FGCU seizing control late. 

This 5-5 tie held after nine innings, sending the game into extras. A Brian Ellis RBI double gave the Eagles the lead, to which they would add another run on a Richie Garcia RBI single. Down 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, the heart of the order couldn’t save the day as the Ospreys fell yet again.

Coming off of a road sweep against JU last weekend, UNF wasn’t expecting to find themselves in that position this week. After getting swept by a combined four runs, UNF now falls to 9-14 on the year and 3-3 in ASUN play. 

The Ospreys will be back in action on Friday as they head to DeLand to take on Stetson in a three-game weekend series. Make sure to follow along with Spinnaker for the latest on UNF baseball.

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