JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University baseball took down North Florida 7-4 on Thursday night.
The Dolphins (31-22, 15-13) rallied from an early deficit thanks to solid pitching from
Evan Chrest and a four-run third inning.
The big third inning started when the Dolphins got their first hit on a
Tommy Joseph double down the right field line. Deja vú for Jacksonville followed, with
Hogan McIntosh ripping a ball in almost the exact same spot for an RBI double to cut the Osprey lead to 2-1.
Colin Wetterau laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt and reached on a throwing error to put runners at the corners. On a squeeze play,
Chase Malloy was thrown out at first base, but the tying run scored from third, making it 2-2.
Elias Flowers then drew a walk to keep the one-out rally going. On a wild pitch, both Flowers and Wetterau moved up to second and third. On a 3-1 pitch to
Kris Armstrong, a base hit back up the middle scored both Wetterau and Flowers to make it 4-2 Dolphins.
The game started with back-to-back base hits to quickly gave the Ospreys runners at first and second in the top of the first. Following a ground out on a fielder's choice (6-4), there were runners on the corners with one away. On a ground ball to shortstop, an error allowed a runner to score, making it 1-0 North Florida. Chrest did load the bases on a hit batter with two away, but got out of inning on his second strikeout to strand three Osprey runners.
Chrest's night of limiting the damage continued in the second. A two-out walk gave North Florida life and a double down the left field line put two runners in scoring position. A walk loaded the bases for the cleanup hitter. On a 3-2 count, Chrest walked in a run to make it 2-0 North Florida. Still with the bases loaded, a ground ball to Armstrong at third got the Dolphins out of the inning.
The Dolphins added to the lead in the fourth, thanks to a two-out double by McIntosh to give the Dolphins a runner in scoring position. Wetterau hit a fly ball to left that was dropped, plating another run for Jacksonville, making it 5-2.
In the top of the sixth, a leadoff hit batsman and a single into right-centerfield had the Ospreys threatening. A ground out on a fielder's choice (6-4) had runners on the corners for the top of the order. A base hit by the leadoff man scored a run for the Ospreys to cut the Jacksonville lead to 5-3. After a ground out on another fielder's choice,
Leighton Alley was called upon to get the final out of the frame. He walked a batter to load the bases with two away, but then got a strikeout to strand the bases loaded and hang on to the 5-3 Dolphin lead.
Joseph led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and advanced to second on a ground out to the North Florida first baseman to put a runner in scoring position. With two away, a fly ball into right field was misplayed by the UNF right fielder that allowed a run to score for Jacksonville to make it 6-3.
A lead off hit batter immediately put a runner on for North Florida in the top of seventh. After a ground out to second base allowed the runner to move up to second, a base hit back up the middle put runners at the corners. A fly out to right field was deep enough to score the run to cut the lead back to two, 6-4. Another hit batter put two on, but a fly ball to
Blake DeLamielleure in right field ended the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Wetterau blasted a home run over the right field wall to give Jacksonville an insurance run to make it 7-4.
Chris Lotito slammed the door on the Ospreys in the top of the ninth to complete the victory.
COACH'S COMMENTS
ON DECK
Jacksonville is back at it for game two against the North Florida Ospreys on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
THREE STRIKES
1.
Colin Wetterau blasted his first career homerun in his 439th career at-bat.
2.
Evan Chrest ended the night with 91 strikeouts, setting a new record for strikeouts by a freshman pitcher in a single-season in JU history
3.
Chris Lotito is now tied for the national lead in saves with 14.
