VMI Baseball rallies in opener but falls 5-4 at UNF
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The VMI baseball team rallied from a 3-0 deficit Friday evening to take the lead in the first game of the 2020 season but the University of North Florida defeated the Keydets 5-4 at Dusty Rhodes Field in Harmon Stadium.
Trailing 3-0 in the fifth,
Matt Keane drove in a run with a groundout following singles by
Cody Warner and
Josh Hollifield. Keane came around to score on a wild pitch and
Jordan Ebersole walked and scored on a
Callen Nuccio double to tie the score.
With the game still tied at three, Hollifield walked to lead off the ninth inning, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored the go-ahead run on a
Jordan Ebersole base hit with two outs. The Ospreys had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth and plated runs on a groundout and a balk for the win.
Senior
Jacob Menders allowed three runs in the second inning, but settled down for a solid six-inning start, scattering five hits, two walks with four strikeouts. Freshman
Trey Morgan worked a scoreless inning of relief
Jon Clines retired both batters he faced.
Hollifield was perfect on the evening with two hits, a walk and was hit by a pitch. Ebersole was 2-3 and
Noah Cook doubled.
Abraham Sequera was 2-3 for the University of North Florida and scored two runs.
The same two teams will square off Saturday at 2:05 p.m.
