The ETSU baseball team dropped both games of the doubleheader to North Florida as the Bucs lost the first game, 9-5, and then lost the rubber match, 8-2, Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Park.
North Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on RBI singles by T.J. Thompson and Chad Knight. The Bucs answered in the bottom of the fourth on an Anthony Russell (Waldorf, Md.) RBI single to right driving in Nick Belcher (Abingdon, Va.) to cut the North Florida lead to 2-1.
The Ospreys added to their lead in the top of the fifth on a RBI double to left center to Thompson to make the score 3-1. Later in the inning North Florida would score again on a three-run home run by Travis Martin to make the score 6-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Bucs would cut into the North Florida on a solo home run by Russell and RBI doubles by Paul Hoilman (Johnson City, Tenn.) and Danny Petro (Atlanta, Ga.) to cut the lead to 6-4.
With the bases loaded in the top of the seventh the Ospreys scored two more runs on a Andrew Hannon two-run single up the middle to extend the North Florida lead to 8-4.
ETSU would make the score 8-5 in the bottom of the eighth on a Hoilman RBI double to left center driving in Russell, but North Florida scored again in ninth on an Andy Warren sacrifice fly to right to make the game one final 9-5.
In game two North Florida took an early 1-0 lead on a Preston Hale RBI single, but the Bucs answered in the first as Hoilman singled in Belcher to tie the game.
The Ospreys took the lead in the second on a Robbie Collier RBI single to make the score 2-1. In the top of the fourth North Florida scored three more on a grounder to short by Michael Gropper, an RBI single by Thompson and Gropper came in and scored to take a 5-1 lead.
ETSU scored a run in the fourth on a Jacob Fabry (Chattanooga, Tenn.) single driving in Bubba Herbold (Knoxville, Tenn.). North Florida extended its lead in the seventh to make the score 6-2. The Ospreys would add two more in the ninth.
The Bucs head to Atlanta, Ga., Tuesday to take on Georgia Tech in a two-game series.

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