JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville University softball team dropped Saturday's doubleheader with intercity rival North Florida and both by a difference of one run.
North Florida 2, Jacksonville 1
The job of the leadoff batter is to get on base and put her team in position to score. In the first plate appearance of the day, Victoria Brown fulfilled her lineup responsibilities with a single to right. She later advanced to third base and was rounding the corner to come home but a diving grab by the Ospreys' second baseman denied the potential run.
A sacrifice fly and single down the left field line lifted UNF to an early 2-0 advantage in the home half of the inning before the Dolphins cut their deficit in half in the second.
Loading the bases, Emily Sanchez and Charli Bradshaw each recorded singles and Brooke Hardy drew a full-count walk. It was Brown who recorded the RBI on JU's run as she drew the walk that brought Sanchez home. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, three runners were left stranded in the frame and that would ultimately be the difference maker.
The remainder of the game turned into a pitching duel. Brown allowed just one hit after the second inning and UNF's Kaylie Wallace gave up two, both singles occurring in the sixth. Brooke Smith and Kristen Griffith found the gap in right center but second base was as far as the Dolphins would reach in the inning.
North Florida 7, Jacksonville 6
After two scoreless innings, the Dolphins really poured it on the third, amounting five runs on six hits on three different UNF pitchers.
Brown doubled to right center and crossed home plate for JU's first run of the game. On the very next pitch, Ashley Simon recorded an RBI-double and Brooke Smith followed her senior's act with a 2-RBI single to right center. The Dolphins eventually loaded the bases and drew a walk for their final run of the frame.
Baker flexed not only her hitting prowess but her speed in the sixth inning for an uncanny, but really-fun-to-watch plate appearance. Sending the ball over the head of UNF's leftfielder, it traveled all the way to warning track as Baker rounded each base for an inside-the-park home run.
The Ospreys cut Jacksonville's 6-0 lead in half in the bottom of the fourth, and tallied their fourth run in the next inning on a close play at the plate.
After UNF's lead off batter lined out to first-baseman Sanchez, the team sparked their come-from-behind rally, which included three hits behind two singles and a triple, in its walk-off victory.
Fin Facts
- Brown reached base in each of her plate appearances until the top of the third inning in game two… On the day, she drew three walks and two hits
- Bakers' home run was the second in her career
- Dolphins haven't recorded a win over UNF since the 2012 season when JU swept the Ospreys by scores of 4-2 and 5-1
