Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Even though the University of North Florida baseball team is only in its third season of Division I, it has made noise – and it made another sound wave on Saturday when it upset No. 23 Mississippi State 17-9 at Harmon Stadium.

 

Sophomore Preston Hale led UNF, going 2-for-5 with three runs scored and a grand slam that came in the bottom of the seventh. Senior Travis Martin continued his impressive start to the season with a 3-for-3, three RBI performance. UNF was able to notch its third all-time win over a ranked team in Division I.

 

The Ospreys (1-1) showed they know how claw out of a hole when they came back from a 9-4 deficit. UNF exploded for a total of 12 runs in the fifth, sixth and seven innings to overtake the Bulldogs (1-1) and put the game out of reach.

 

UNF began to nip away at the MSU lead in the fifth when sophomore T.J. Thompson scored on a Martin double. The Ospreys took the reins the next inning when an error by MSU’s Ryan Powers allowed Hale to score, giving UNF a 10-9 lead.

 

Hale’s monstrous blast in the seventh put an exclamation point on a six-run inning that was helped by the Bulldogs’ inability to find the strike zone. MSU ended up walking three Ospreys in the inning.

 

Junior John Raiford made his return to the mound after sitting out last season with an elbow injury and looked as if he didn’t skip a beat. After allowing one early run when he entered the game in the fourth inning in relief of John Atteo, Raiford settled down and shutout the Bulldogs in the fifth and sixth.

 

He was able to pick up his first career win after going 3.0 innings and striking out five. Junior Tyler Stohr entered the game in the seventh and slammed the door on any hopes of an MSU comeback. He didn’t allow any hits and struck out four in 2.2 innings to pick up his first save of the season.

 

Six Ospreys ended up with at least two hits in the game. Senior Chad Knight finished with three RBIs, while Thompson scored four times. Freshmen Michael R. Smith and Robbie Collier also stood out, with Smith going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a triple and Collier finishing 2-for-2 with a double and three runs scored.

 

The Ospreys will wrap up the series with the Bulldogs at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Harmon Stadium. Video will be available on ASUN.TV, and the game will be broadcast tomorrow live on WBOB-AM 1320, beginning at 12:45 p.m.