JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (April 4, 2009) - The ETSU baseball team dropped both games of a doubleheader to North Florida at Harmon Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Saturday as the Bucs lost the first game 15-3 and could not rally back as they fell in the second game 8-6.

The Bucs drop to 13-14 on the season and 5-9 in conference play, while the Ospreys are no 14-17 overall and 8-6 in league play.

In game one, right fielder Preston Hale put the Ospreys on the board in the bottom of the first on an RBI single to make the score 1-0 UNF. North Florida added three more runs in the inning on a Kevin Martin three-run home run to right to increase its lead to 4-0.

The Bucs answered in the top of the second as catcher Derek Trent (Kingsport, Tenn.) homered for the third time on the season to right to cut the lead to 4-1. Right fielder Cory Betterson (Atlanta, Ga.) added another run on an infield single that scored the designated hitter Danny Petro (Atlanta, Ga.) to narrow the gap to 4-2.

UNF scored eight runs in the bottom of the second highlighted by a three-run run triple by the designated hitter Michael Smith, a two-run home run by left fielder Justin Preckajlo and a two-run home run by Martin to increase the UNF lead to 12-2.

Smith homered in the bottom of the third to extend the North Florida lead to 13-2.

Left fielder Troy Mendez (Roswell, Ga.) singled in Betterson in the top of the fourth to make the score 13-3.

North Florida plated two more in the bottom of the fifth as second baseman T.J. Thompson hit a two-run home run over the fence in right center to give UNF a 15-3 lead.

Senior Ben Andrews (Leesburg, Fla.) was tabbed with the loss in game one as he is now 1-2 on the season. North Florida got a complete game performance from John Frawley as he improved to 4-1 on the year.

UNF again took an early lead in the second game as Preckajlo singled in a run to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.

Martin added two more runs for the Ospreys in the bottom of the third as Martin singled in two runs to make the score 3-0.

The Ospreys scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on RBI singles by Martin and T.J. Gavlik to increase the lead to 5-0.

Second baseman Ben Allen (Kingsport, Tenn.) got the Bucs on the board in the top of the sixth as he singled in Mendez to cut the UNF lead to 5-1.

ETSU added two more runs a two-run single by Jacob Fabry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) scoring Petro and Chris Rankhorn (Gallatin, Tenn.) to cut the lead down to 5-3. Later in the inning, the Bucs tied the score at 5-all after a Mendez sac fly that scored shortstop Garrett May (Roswell, Ga.) and a Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) RBI single.

 UNF retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth as Wilson drove a three-run home run over the fence in left to make the score 8-5 Ospreys.

Hoilman added one run in the top of the ninth on a sac fly to center scoring Fabry to cut the lead to 8-6.

Tucker Pryor picked up the win in the second game to improve to 2-1 on the season, while Allen picked up his first loss of the year.

The Bucs were led offensively by Rankhorn who was 2-for-3 in the second game and scored a run.

ETSU is back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. as the Bucs and Ospreys close out the series. Please visit www.ETSUBucs.com for more information on ETSU baseball and all other Buccaneer athletic news.

Game 1: UNF 15, ETSU 3 (7 innings) (April 4, 2009 at Jacksonville, Fla.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ETSU............ 020  100  0        -  3    11     3   (13-13, 5-8 A-Sun)

UNF............... 481  020  x        - 15   15     0   (13-17, 7-6 A-Sun)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: ETSU - Ben Andrews; Bo Burton (2); Taylor Gouffon (6)

UNF - John Frawley

Win - John Frawley (4-1) Loss - Ben Andrews (1-2) 

HR - ETSU - Derek Trent (3)

UNF - Kevin Martin 2(6); Justin Preckajlo (1); Michael Smith (4); T.J. Thompson (4)

Game 2: UNF 8, ETSU 6 (April 4, 2009 at Jacksonville, Fla.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ETSU............ 000  001  401   -  6    12     3   (13-14, 5-9 A-Sun)

UNF............... 102  020  03x    -  8    16     1   (14-17, 8-6 A-Sun)

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: ETSU - Josh Gonzaga; Ben Allen (7); Darren Caldwell (8)

UNF - Phil Rorabaugh; Tucker Pryor (7)

Win - Tucker Pryor (2-1) Loss - Ben Allen (0-1) Save - Spencer Jones (1) 

HR - UNF - Brian Wilson (3)