DELAND, Fla. (Interstat) — Florida Gulf Coast beat North Florida 3-1 on Friday evening at Melching Field at Conrad Park. The Eagles improved to 36-21, while the Ospreys fell to 31-24.

Florida Gulf Coast struck first in the top of the sixth inning. Cayden reached on a throwing error by shortstop Farner, allowing Nelson to score from second base. Cayden advanced to second on the play, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Later in the frame, the Eagles added two more runs to go up 3-0.

North Florida answered in the bottom of the sixth. Collins drove in Schrafft with a fielder’s choice, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

The Eagles’ Wilfred Gonzalez homered to deep left field in the eighth inning, his second of the season, scoring Gorostola to make it 3-1.

Hunter Possehl was the top star for Florida Gulf Coast, tossing four innings of hitless ball with three strikeouts. Ryan Rushing added 3.1 shutout innings with six strikeouts. For North Florida, Trevor Nikolis allowed two hits and no earned runs in five innings with three strikeouts.

Florida Gulf Coast managed four hits, while North Florida had nine but stranded runners.