Box Score

GAINESVILLE, Fla.  - For the fourth time this season, the University of North Florida baseball team has slain a giant.

UNF (16-12) picked up its fourth win over a ranked opponent this season with its 11-10 extra inning win over No. 13 Florida on Wednesday night at McKethan Stadium. It was the highest ranked Division I opponent UNF has ever defeated. The Ospreys were able to battle back after relinquishing a four-run lead and falling behind 10-9 in the top of the ninth.

Senior Chad Knight picked up the game-winning RBI in the top of the 10th when his looping single drove home sophomore Michael Gropper. He also scored the game-tying run in the top of the ninth. Knight finished with a career-high five hits and a run scored.

Junior closer Tyler Stohr took his place on the mound in the bottom of the 10th and put a clamp on the Gators to pick up his seventh save of the season, which would have him tied for fifth in the nation. Junior RHP Ty Pryor improved his record to 3-3 after coming on in relief in the bottom of the seventh and keeping UNF in position to win. Pryor allowed just one hit in three innings of work and struck out four.

The game began with as many fireworks as it did when it ended. The Ospreys got to work early, putting a run up in the top of the first on sophomore Andrew Hannon's RBI groundout. Senior Mike P. Smith put a charge into UNF in the top of the second when he hit a screaming line drive home run to left center that also drove in senior Andy Warren.

Florida's Dustin Bamberg got the hook after sophomore T.J. Thompson kept the rally going with a right field single. Senior Travis Martin tacked on another run in the inning with an RBI single that drove in Thompson to extend UNF's lead to 4-0.

The Gators threatened in the bottom of the second with a runner on when Brandon MacAurthur hit a rocket to right center, but sophomore Preston Hale raced back and robbed MacAurthur of a double at the wall. But despite forcing the Gators to commit two quick outs, UF got it rolling and tied the game on a three-run home run by Matt den Dekker.

UNF answered the challenge in the top of the third with three more runs to retake the lead at 7-4. Senior T.J. Gaudy got it started when he scored on a wild pitch by UF's Tony Davis. Thompson capped the scoring on a two-run double down the right field line that drove in Smith and Warren.

Despite grounding into what could have been a deflating double play in the top of the fourth, the Ospreys dusted themselves off and put up another two runs to up their lead to 9-5. Warren drove in Martin on an RBI single to center. Sophomore Ryan Lowe joined in with another RBI single to bring Warren home.

But the Gators' potent bats returned and erased UNF's lead. UF first cut UNF's lead to 9-7 with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and took a 10-9 lead in the bottom of the sixth. After getting two quick outs on strikeouts in the sixth, junior RHP Phil Rorabaugh fell into a funk and allowed an RBI single by Cole Figueroa and an RBI double by Josh Adams. A wild pitch also allowed Figueroa to score.

It looked like the Ospreys might be out of magic after getting blanked in the seventh and eighth. UNF was deflated even more when Thompson and head coach Dusty Rhodes were ejected for arguing the strike zone after Thompson struck out looking in the top of the eighth to end the inning. Thompson finished the night with four hits, including a double, two RBIs and two runs scored.

But the Ospreys pulled another trick from their sleeve in the top of the ninth when Knight scored on an RBI groundout by Hannon to knot the game at 10. The rally was put in motion when Hale squared around to bunt, then pulled it back and hammered a double over UF third baseman Jon Townsend's head and down the left field line.

The win improved UNF's all-time record to 3-0 against Florida. Martin went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Warren finished 3-for-6 and scored three times.

The Ospreys will return to action this weekend for a three-game series against Atlantic Sun Conference foe Campbell at Harmon Stadium. The series will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday and will conclude with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.