Jacksonville, Fl. (March 23rd, 2018) – No MEAC play for Florida A&M this weekend, but the Rattlers hit the road on Friday to take on the Ospreys of University of North Florida in the first of a three-game non-conference series.
After five and a half innings of scoreless play, the Ospreys got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the fifth. A Mac Wilson single through the right side scored Dalton Board, who reached on a bunt single, making it a 1-0 game in favor of UNF.
North Florida added three more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Tanner Murphy drove in Alex Reynolds and Max Law with a base hit through left side. Jay Prather followed up with a single through the right side to drive in Dalton Board, giving UNF a 4-0 lead after seven innings of play.
FAMU cut the lead in half in the eighth. After Jordan Curtis and Dallas Oliver each singled to start the inning, Jacky Miles drove in both runners with a double down the right field line, making it a 4-2 game going into the bottom of the eighth.
The Ospreys broke the game open with six runs in the bottom of the eighth. After leading off the inning with a base hit, Blake Voyles later scored on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch. Dalton Board then drove in two more with a single to left field before Tanner Murphy would drive in a run of his own with a single through the right side. Blake Voyles then hit a two-RBI double for his second hit of the inning to make it a 10-2 lead for UNF.
The Rattlers bats were silenced in the ninth, as Frank German earned the win for North Florida, throwing 7 scoreless innings. Brad Depperman threw 2 innings of relief, allowing two earned runs.
Thomas Nicoll's 6.2 solid innings were not enough for FAMU, as he suffered his fifth loss of the season. The Rattlers sent Jamie Grant and Deven Shulstad to the hill to finish the seventh, while Josh Wilson and Josh Barr combined to throw the eighth.
Florida A&M will look to come back strong in game two of the series tomorrow at Harmon Stadium at 2:05 PM.
