JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In the inaugural battle of the Mayor's Cup, the Jacksonville University baseball team was defeated by cross-town rival North Florida on Wednesday evening, 3-2. The Dolphins (9-11) embark on a weekend road-trip to play Mount St. Mary's Friday through Sunday.

Jacksonville baseball fans were treated to a game in which two Division 1 programs battled to the end in their backyard as the Dolphins threatened with two runners on the ninth-inning, down a run.

 "That's a heck of a way to start the Mayor's Cup series," said head coach Tim Montez. "It was a great college baseball game with a lot of intensity and that's to be expected out of these two, local teams. Seeing those high-school and little league ball-players in the stands-- that's what this is all about." 

JJ Gould (2-for-4) singled to center field for his second hit of the evening, to start the rally in the ninth. Angelo Amendolare (2-for-5) would smoke one to second-base, forcing Patrick Ervin's only play to first and the tying run was in scoring position.

UNF elected the free-pass to Connor Marabell (2-for-4), after he had done damage three-innings prior scoring the second run for the Dolphins, puttin the game-winning run on base. Austin Hays (1-for-5) would drive a sharp-hit ball to Trent Higginbottom at third and he would step on the bag to escape with the win. 

Gregory Shannahan (2-1) would be pegged with his first loss of the season, while Matthew Naylor (3-0) tallies the win and Corbin Olmstead gets the save (2).

"I tip my cap to UNF, they played a fairly clean game and we just didn't take advantage of the opportunities we needed to early," said Montez. "We made some crucial base-running mistakes that cost us a run, and those things we can't have happen at this juncture of the season. We are 20-games into this season and we can't make those mistakes and expect to come out on the positive side."

The bullpen didn't allow a run for the final six-innings of work, stranding five left-on base and were paced by Spencer Stockton's three-inning shut-out where he recorded two strikeouts, setting down 9-of-11 batters faced. 

"Our bullpen did a heck of a job giving us the opportunity to stay in the game and comeback at the end," said Montez of his strong bullpen that threw zeroes in the run column. "We've got to get back up off the mat and get ready for a challenging road-trip starting tomorrow morning."

Appearances by Dylan Dillard and Andrew Ciocia, a combined inning and a third of work, would be accompanied by no hits, no runs. Nathan Disch entered, capping the relievers evening with 2.1 innings of no hits, no walks and no runs.

North Florida would answer in the first-three innings and nothing more, while Jacksonville would put up a run in the sixth and eighth frames, backed by back-to-back leadoff singles by Marabell and Hays to begin the scoring.

Nathan Koslowski (1-for-2) entered in the sixth-inning in center field and would deliver in the same stanza—an RBI on a fielder's choice, then a single in the eighth a part of a one-run inning.

"We are going to be playing in some brutal conditions," said Montez of his weekend series in Emmittsburg, MD. "We need to go take care of business then get ready for a very, grueling week with two mid-week games and a tough opponent at home with Missouri State. We will see how mentally-tough we are as we gear heading into conference play."

A LOOK AHEAD

Dolphins travel to Emmitsburg, MD., for a three-game series with Mount St. Mary's on Friday, March 19 at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, 3 p.m., and concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. before returning home with a weekday game with No. 9 Central Florida on ESPN3. 

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