Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - With a season series win over No. 20 Florida State within its grasp, the University of North Florida baseball team saw its hope dashed with a bloop single by Jason Stidham in the bottom of the ninth to give the Seminoles an 8-7 win on Wednesday at Dick Howser Stadium.

Paul Morales' two-run double in the top of the seventh helped UNF (15-23) take a 7-5 lead, but FSU rallied with single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth.

Junior TJ Thompson led the Ospreys at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three runs. David Eldredge, TJ Gavlik and Morales each had two RBI. UNF finished with four doubles.

The Ospreys out hit the Seminoles 12-9, but UNF committed four errors, accounting for three unearned FSU runs.

FSU (22-12) started the game with single runs in the first and second to take a 2-0 lead before Gavlik drove in Thompson on a drag bunt in the top of the fourth to pull to within 2-1.

Eldredge briefly put the Ospreys in control in the top of the fifth when he hit a two-run double off the giant fence in right field to give UNF a 4-2 lead. Just before Eldredge's at bat, junior Justin Preckajlo pounded an Austin Wood pitch off the fence in right to tie the game.

But UNF's lead was wiped away in the next inning when FSU's Mike McGee hit a three-run home run off Pryor to left to help the Seminoles reclaim the lead at 5-4.

The Ospreys made it a new ballgame in the top of the seventh when Gavlik hit a line-drive single to right, which allowed Thompson to round third and slide around FSU catcher Parker Brunelle's tag at the plate to tie the score at five.

Following Morales' double to give the Ospreys a 7- 5 lead, the Seminoles cut UNF's advantage to 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh when McGee drove home Stephen Cardullo on a base hit, but Preckajlo was able to cut down McGee at second on the same play to end the inning.

FSU knotted the game again in the bottom of the eighth when it put runners on second and third and Eldredge briefly took his concentration off a Spencer Jones pitch for a passed ball.

Junior RHP Tucker Pryor put together a solid start for UNF, tossing 5.0 innings and striking out four while allowing five runs on five hits. Two of the runs were unearned. Jones was credited with the loss after his runner scored in the bottom of the ninth.

The Ospreys will take a week off for final exams before returning to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 25 for a doubleheader at Harmon Stadium against Mercer.