Tuesday, April 06, 2010

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida baseball team got back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead and relied on excellent pitching to hold on for a 3-1 victory over No. 7 Florida State on Tuesday night at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. 
 
The victory was the 10th win over a ranked Division I opponent for Hall of Fame head coach Dusty Rhodes.  With the victory, Rhodes stands one win shy of 1,200 for his career and four back of 900 victories at UNF. 
 
The win marks the second time in as many years that UNF has defeated Florida State when the Seminoles were ranked in the top 10.  Last season, UNF picked up a 5-4 victory over No. 6 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., on March 4, 2009.  In the game, Steve Hillan hit what proved to be the game-winning home run to lift the Ospreys. 
 
North Florida recorded just four hits on the night, but made them count as the Ospreys belted a pair of home runs in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead.  Junior Robbie Collier recorded his first home run of the season, a two-run homer that proved to be the difference in the ballgame.  Senior Justin Preckajlo followed with a solo home run to give UNF a 3-0 advantage. 
 
Three runs would be enough as the UNF pitching staff held the Seminoles prolific offense to just one run on five hits. 
 
Starting pitcher John Atteo picked up his third win of the season.  The senior allowed one hit in 2.0 innings of work of a controlled start.  Atteo walked three batters, but countered that with three strikeouts.