Softball continues to dominate, takes down Georgia Southern in road doubleheader

Riley Platt, Sports Editor
April 21, 2022

It was more of the same for the University of North Florida (UNF) softball team on Wednesday as they picked up another pair of wins.

The Ospreys have been on a tear as of late, winning 11 of their last 12. This streak includes three consecutive sweeps of ASUN opponents, but Wednesday’s foe didn’t fall into this category.

The Eagles of Georgia Southern University (GASO) may call the Sun Belt Conference home, but UNF was indiscriminate in their quest for more and more wins as the season winds down. With just six games remaining in the regular season, every win is crucial as the Ospreys try to take the No. 1 seed in the East Division from the Liberty Flames.

With this in mind, UNF didn’t have much to lose on Wednesday in terms of conference standings, but momentum going into this weekend’s series against Stetson could prove very beneficial.

The first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader was anything but an offensive affair. Halle Arends was on pitching duty, tossing a gem of a performance. The game was scoreless both ways until a Kayla McGory home run broke the ice in the 4th inning to give UNF a 1-0 lead.

Arends’s lockdown evening in the circle continued through until the 7th inning, when Georgia Southern had one last chance to make something happen. GASO’s Ashlynn Gunter put one through the infield, scoring the tying run. 

Now in extra innings for the second time in the last week, the Ospreys wasted no time retaking the lead. Maggie Trgo scored on a sacrifice fly by Bailee Aguigui to put UNF up 2-1. This would be all it took, as Arends pitched another stellar inning to seal the deal for the Ospreys in a 13-strikeout outing.

While the first game of the doubleheader was a nail biter, the second was anything but. The Ospreys got to work early, with a Shannon Glover home run and an Abi Annett double giving UNF a 3-0 lead after just one inning. Strong pitching was on display yet again for UNF, as Morgan Clausen and Izzy Kelly collaborated in a shutout of the Eagles.

Glover continued to punish the Eagles, knocking an RBI triple into right field during the 3rd inning, buffering UNF’s lead to 4-0. To make things more comfortable for the Osprey pitching staff, Glover stole home to make it a 5-0 lead.

Things would implode for Georgia Southern in the 4th inning, where the Ospreys popped off for seven runs. Things progressively got more and more out of hand for the Eagles, with a 3-run home run by Savannah Channel serving as the nail in the coffin. 

Thanks to a 12-run lead, the game was called on run rule after five innings of play. The Ospreys now sit at 37-11 overall on the season, poised to make a run at Liberty University for the division title. 

They’ll get a chance to do just that when they face ASUN opponent Stetson this weekend, and then the Liberty Flames themselves to close out the regular season. 

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