Box score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jamie Cardwell singled in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning Saturday as the University of North Florida baseball team rallied for an 8-7 victory over Northern Kentucky University.
Joe Wielbruda singled to start the 13th inning for North Florida, which improved to 26-11 overall and 8-3 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Paul Karmeris, and Tyler Marincov was then intentionally walked.
After Donnie Dewees popped out, Cardwell was sent in to pinch-hit for David Trexler. In just his second at-bat of the season, Cardwell sent a 2-1 pitch into left-center field and Wieldbruda came home for the victory.
NKU took a 1-0 lead after the first inning when a
Brad Clement single brought
Conor Ledger home, but Ryan Roberson hit his third home run of the series in the second inning to even the score.
A two-run home run by Karmeris gave the Ospreys a 3-1 lead after three frames. The Norse responded the following inning with a three-run double by
Pat Hyde to regain the lead, but North Florida tied the game at 4-all in the bottom of the sixth.
Hyde struck again in the eighth inning with a three-run home run over the left-field wall to take a 7-4 advantage into the bottom of the ninth.
Wielbruda and Marincov singled to bring home a total of three runs to even the game for the third time and send the game into extra innings.
The Norse put two runners on base in both the 10th and 13th innings but were unable to bring home the go-ahead run. NKU and North Florida both left 13 runners on base for the game.
Wielbruda and Marincov led the Osprey offense with two hits. Wielbruda scored three times, and Marincov recorded three RBIs.
Hyde led the Norse attack with 4-for-6 performance, while Ledger went 3-for-4. Hyde's six RBIs finished three shy of NKU's single-game record of 9 set by Matt Mason during the 2001 season.
The Norse fell to 6-29 on the season and 1-10 in the conference.
NKU and North Florida will conclude its series on Sunday. The contest was originally scheduled to start at 1 p.m. but a threat of inclement weather moved first pitch to noon. Live stats and broadcast information will be available at NKUNorse.com.
