JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University baseball dropped game one of the River City Rumble to North Florida 5-3 on Friday night at John Sessions Stadium.
 
The Ospreys took an early lead over the Dolphins (5-13, 0-1) and kept all chances at a rally at bay throughout the night.
 
"That's what you expect in this conference on Friday night," said Head Coach Chris Hayes. "Really well played ballgame, very even up until that very last pitch."
 
North Florida got off to a strong start, stringing together three straight hits off of Tyler Santana (3-3) to begin the game. A single and double to the opposite field were followed by a base hit that bounced off of Santana's foot and trickled into right field, making it 2-0. A double play and a strikeout ended the inning before any more damage.
 
JU responded quickly. Blake DeLamielleure and Dakota Julylia hit back-to-back singles with one out in the bottom of the first, and Christian Coipel drove in a run on a single to right, but that is all the Dolphins could muster.
 
UNF added a run in the third to make it 3-1 when a leadoff walk came into score after it was followed by a single and a sacrifice fly.
 
The Ospreys pushed the advantage to 4-1 in the fifth. A batter drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a single and scored on a double down the line in left field.
 
Santana battled his way through six innings, striking out seven along the way. His offense started to pick him up in the seventh. Cory Heffron legged out a single, and with two-outs, Jackson Grabsky chased the UNF starter with a base-hit. Jesus Pacheco greeted the new Osprey reliever with a sharp single to left to plate a run and cut the lead in half, 4-2.
 
Again, JU scratched across a run in the eighth. Julylia led off the inning with his second hit of the game, and Duncan Hunter singled with one out. Cory Heffron bounced into a fielder's choice, but North Florida could not turn the double play and Julylia scored to cut it to one, 4-3.
 
UNF tacked on an insurance run in the top of the ninth and JU never got any closer.
 
ON DECK
 
Jacksonville faces North Florida again in game two of the River City Rumble, Saturday night at 7 p.m. at John Sessions Stadium. RHP Mason Adams returns to the roation for JU to make the start.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS

 

THREE STRIKES
 

• R-Sr. OF Ruben Someillan continued his on-base streak with a walk in the seventh, and has now reached base safely in all 18 games this season
• Dakota Julylia extended his hit streak to eight-straight games, the longest such stretch by a Dolphin this year
• Jackson Grabsky and Julylia recorded their fifth and fourth multi-hit games of the year, respectively, which is top-two on the team