JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --Jacksonville's offense erupted early and often on Friday night as the Dolphins routed rival North Florida in round two of the River City Rumble, 15–4 in seven innings. All nine starters reached base safely, and the Dolphins strung together 14 hits to secure the dominant victory and improve to 28–23 on the season.
Jacksonville relied on a trio of senior arms to secure the win. Collin Rothermel got the start for the Dolphins, setting the tone in the early innings. Blake Barquin (5–4) earned the win in relief, striking out five over 2.2 innings while allowing two earned runs. Chris Lotito followed with two scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing just one hit to help Jacksonville close out the game and keep North Florida off the board down the stretch..
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jacksonville wasted no time, striking first in the opening frame. With the bases loaded and one out, Blake DeLamielleure drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Jaden Bastian.
Shortly after,
Aidan Masters delivered a two-run single, plating
Josh Steidl and
Jonah Shields to extend the lead to 3–0.
Cade Hentz followed with an RBI single to center, scoring
Chandler Howard, before
Sammy Mummau capped the six-run inning with a two-run double to the left-center gap, bringing home Hentz and Masters.
In the second inning, Shields led off with a solo home run to left field, his second of the year.
DeLamielleure then added an RBI single to score Steidl, followed by a sacrifice fly from Masters that brought in DeLamielleure, giving Jacksonville a 9–0 advantage. North Florida finally broke through in the third inning with a two-run single, narrowing the score to 9–2.
The 'Phins tacked on another run in the third when Steidl grounded out to second, allowing Mummau to score from third and pushing the lead to 10–2. The Ospreys responded with a two-run homer from later in the inning, making it 10–4.
In the fourth, Hentz continued the momentum with a two-run triple to left-center, scoring Masters and Howard.
Moments later, Mummau added a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Hentz, making it 13–4. Jacksonville held North Florida scoreless after that.
Jacksonville added two more in the fifth. Steidl launched a solo home run down the right field line to make it 14–4, and later in the inning,
Carson Stevens drove in Howard with an RBI single through the left side to round out the scoring at 15–4.
GAME NOTES
- All nine Jacksonville starters reached base safely.
- Six different Dolphins had multi-hit games.
- Jacksonville went 8-for-13 (.615) with runners in scoring position.
- Jacksonville pitchers held North Florida to 1-for-9 (.111) in similar situations and struck out 11 batters.
- The Dolphins out-hit the Ospreys 14–6.
- Jacksonville scored in each of the first five innings, including a six-run first inning.
- Aidan Masters: 3 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 3 RBI
- Sammy Mummau: 3 AB, 1 R, 2 H, 3 RBI
- Cade Hentz: 4 AB, 2 R, 2 H, 3 RBI
UP NEXT
Jacksonville Baseball returns to the field tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. for Senior Day as the Dolphins face North Florida in game three of the River City Rumble. The team will honor its graduating players before the game and look to close out the series strong in front of the home crowd for the final time in the 2025 campaign.
