North Florida at Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Interstat) — Ryan Furey delivered a dominant six-inning, no-hit start and Jackson Toberman launched two home runs as the North Florida Ospreys routed the Jacksonville Dolphins 12-6 on Sunday afternoon to complete a three-game ASUN Conference series sweep at John Sessions Stadium.
The Ospreys (16-12, 3-0 ASUN) pounded out 15 hits and capitalized on three Dolphins errors to secure their fifth consecutive victory. Jacksonville fell to 12-16 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
The most important part of the game was Furey’s masterful performance, which set an overpowering tone from the outset. The right-hander faced the minimum through six innings, allowing no hits and walking two while striking out three. He retired the first seven batters he faced and did not allow a Jacksonville runner to reach second base. His outing provided a stark contrast to his previous appearance on March 21, when he allowed five hits and three earned runs in just one inning of work.
North Florida’s offense provided immediate support. In the first inning, Mitchell Collins singled, advanced on a walk and a stolen base, and scored on Gialdri Gomez’s RBI single for a 1-0 lead.
The Ospreys extended their advantage in the third when Toberman hammered a two-run homer to left-center field off Jacksonville starter Brendan Holland. Toberman struck again in the fifth, sending a solo shot down the right-field line for his second homer of the game and a 4-0 lead.
Holland took the loss for Jacksonville, surrendering four earned runs on five hits over five innings of work.
North Florida broke the game open with a three-run sixth inning, highlighted by a bases-loaded walk from Mathew Farner that forced in a run. They added two more in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Sean Benjamin, with the runs set up by a Gomez single and a Boone Hosey double coupled with a Jacksonville fielding error.
The Ospreys put the game out of reach with a four-run eighth inning. Toberman added an RBI single, Gomez drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Carter White contributed an RBI double. A wild pitch allowed another run to score, pushing the lead to 12-0.
Jacksonville, held hitless through six innings, finally broke through against the North Florida bullpen in a chaotic seventh. The Dolphins sent 11 men to the plate and scored four runs on three hits, benefiting from a passed ball, a hit batter and a North Florida error. Sam Grunberg, Nick DeLisi, Conner Spelman and Sammy Mummau each drove in a run during the rally.
John Costa entered for North Florida with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh and recorded the final two outs to limit the damage, stranding two runners.
The Dolphins added two final runs in the ninth off reliever Jeremiah Stewart on a two-run single by Mummau, who finished with three RBIs.
Toberman led the North Florida attack, going 3 for 6 with two homers and four RBIs. Gomez drove in two runs, while Hosey went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored.
The victory gave North Florida a sweep of the weekend series after winning 4-2 on Friday and 11-4 on Saturday. The Ospreys’ next game is Tuesday at home against Georgia Southern. Jacksonville travels to face Florida on Tuesday.