ASUN baseball recap: North Florida, Jacksonville end their seasons with quick eliminations

The baseball seasons for the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University ended in a bizarre fashion in Fort Myers last week.

UNF was eliminated from the ASUN baseball tournament after playing only one game in Pool B. The Ospreys then knocked out the Dolphins with a 9-3 victory to square the rivalry at 3-3 this season.

But then UNF was sent home and JU had to play another game, meaningless to them and their opponent, Eastern Kentucky, but deemed important by the ASUN brass so EKU wouldn’t get a day off before entering the semifinals with three teams from Pool A.

Something about “competitive advantage.”

The Dolphins lost that game too, going 0-3 in a tournament in which they had gone 3-0 the year before in winning the conference championship.

Formats aside (and the ASUN changes them as often as the average Major League manager does his pitchers) both JU and UNF both ended with losing seasons for the second season in a row for the first time since the Ospreys entered NCAA Division I play in 2006.

UNF finished 22-33, the most losses in its Division I era and JU lost its last four games to finish 27-28, the first time coach Chris Hayes has had back-to-back sub-.500 seasons.

“We played a lot of one- or two-run games and couldn’t get the big pitch, big hit or the big play at the right time,” UNF coach Tim Parenton said. “The bottom line is we didn’t get it done and it falls on my shoulders for not having our guys ready when it was time.”

Hayes said his team's performance in the tournament was "uncharacteristic" and said having the play the first two games in an 18-hour span because of weather issues should not have been a factor.

"Zero excuses," he said. "It's tournament baseball and our guys know to expect the unexpected. The bottom line is we didn't play well when it was time for us to play well, and I was surprised and disappointed."

The two teams face different challenges in the offseason. The Dolphins brought in 21 new players for this season and while some, such as starting pitcher Michael Darrell-Hicks, were one-off from the transfer portal, most will be returning.

Barring anyone departing through the portal, the only position player JU will lose is first baseman Christian Coipel (13 homers, 48 RBI to lead the team).

Returning will be the heart of the defense with catchers Jake Berg and Trace Burchard, shortstop Chase Malloy (.274 and 15 doubles to lead the team), second baseman Jesus Pacheco (.251) and center fielder Blake DeLamielleure (a team-high .283 average).

Also eligible to return are Friday starter Mason Adams (5-5, 4.80) and closer Tyler Vogel (4-0, 1.78, 10 saves).

"Right now it looks like we're pretty sound up the middle but with the portal, in this day and age, it's so different," Hayes said. "It changes everything."

UNF is losing more key position players, such as outfielders Brock Edge (.324, six homers), Cade Westbrook (.311), third baseman Abraham Sequera (.307, team-highs of 11 homers and 53 RBI) and DH Trey Spratling-Williams (.239), as well as weekend starting pitcher Max McKinley (3-6, 5.56).

The heart of the offense entering fall practice will be senior Isaiah Byars (.330) and junior Aidan Sweatt of Fernandina Beach (.329). Catcher Dallen Leach (.263, four homers) provided some pop, as did outfielder Justin Holmes (.323, six homers).

Peter Holden (4-3, 3.41), who came on in the second half of the season to become the No. 1 starter, Stephen Halstead (3.66, 3-4, five saves), Jason Gonzalez (6-3, 4.62) and Dominick Madonna (1-0, 5.06) are among the pitchers who could return.

But the transfer portal, with players both coming and going, could change the outlook. Coaches continue to juggle the numbers (11.7 scholarships available, to be spread among 27 players).

Hayes and Parenton also have to balance the desire of some seniors to get one more year of eligibility granted by the NCAA in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic against bringing in high school and junior college signees.

“We’ve had some tough conversations,” Parenton said. “You have to make a choice. Do you lose good high school prospects and move on from some of your seniors? If they have their degrees, I want them to move on.”

ASUN tournament recap

Eastern Kentucky 5, UNF 3 

The Colonels had a pair of two-run innings back-to-back and threw six pitchers against the Ospreys – who didn’t help their cause with three errors.

EKU out-hit UNF 13-5, nine of the hits coming in 4.1 innings against Holden. Leadoff hitter Max Williams was 3-for-5 and scored three times and Logan Thomson had a pair of doubles.

UNF cut a 5-1 lead to 5-3 in the seventh, highlighted by Westbrook’s RBI single. Holmes doubled to lead off the ninth but Will Brian got the next three batters for his conference-leading 15th save.

JSU 8, JU 4

The Gamecocks broke open a close game with three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to deal the Dolphins’ hopes of repeating as conference champions a fatal blow. Jacksonville State shortstop Isaac Alexander battered the Dolphins for a 4-for-5, four RBI day, including a pair of RBI doubles.

The game began nearly three hours late because of storms and didn’t finish until 1:16 a.m.

UNF 9, JU 3

Less than 16 hours after finishing against JSU, the Dolphins had to face the Ospreys and it didn’t end well for JU.

UNF jumped on JU for three runs in the first, with Sequera and Sweatt delivering RBI doubles, and Holmes hit a solo homer in the second and Caleb Stafford smacked a run-scoring single in the third to make it 5-0.

Jonah Diaz had an RBI single for JU in the bottom of the third but Edge answered with a run-scoring double in the fourth. The Dolphins final gasp was DeLamielleure’s two-run single in the seventh.

Byars singled home a run in the eighth and Sequera capped the game with a solo homer in the ninth, his 20th career shot for UNF.

Because Eastern Kentucky had beaten Jacksonville State before JU and UNF played, the Ospreys were eliminated before taking the field against the Dolphins. They in turn knocked JU out of contention with the victory.

EKU 5, JU 2

Although the Colonels were 2-0 and JU 0-2 in pool play, meaning the EKU had a spot in the semifinals, the conference ordered the game played because officials decided it would be an advantage for EKU to have a day off while the teams in Pool A would have to play three times before the semifinals.

Darrell-Hicks pitched for JU as if the game meant everything.

Darrell-Hicks struck out nine and allowed three hits in the first four innings but EKU broke a scoreless tie with all of its runs in the top of the fifth. Darrell-Hicks had two out with runners on first and third but was replaced by Jack Carver after hitting Nico Montes. It came unraveled in the next three at-bats for the Colonels as Conner Davis hit a two-run single, Khalil Bell and RBI double and Michael Goehrig a two-run double.

JU got two runs back on Josh Steidl’s two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth but didn’t score again. The most promising threat came in the eighth when Steidl and Clayton Hodges singled to lead off the inning, but Elias Flowers grounded into a double play.

Locals dominate incoming classes

Hayes and Parenton have taken advantage of an excellent run of high school talent on the First Coast to help re-stock for next season.

Among the key players for the Dolphins will be Bartram Trail corner infielder Justin Nadeau (.372, six homers, 22 stolen bases); Fletcher pitcher/first baseman Malachi Witherspoon (9-1, 0.29, .492); Lake City Columbia catcher/infielder Brent Howard (.367); Sandalwood pitcher Dakota Stone (3-3, 2.36) and Fleming Island pitchers Divine Valle (2-5, 1.71) and Isaac Williams (2-3, 2.22).

"We're really excited about the class we have coming in," Hayes said. "It could be a really special group."

UNF will welcome St. Johns Country Day pitcher/infielder Finn Howell (4-1, 1.51, .463); Bishop Kenny corner infielder Cal Leonard (.299), Trinity Christian catcher Eric Fouraker (.372, no errors in the field); Clay pitcher Brandon Adams (6-0, 1.34); Paxon catcher Eli Maddox (.453); and Bartram Trail shortstop Alex Lodise (.250).

Parenton said when baseball coaches sign players, they still have their senior year in high school or their sophomore year in junior college ahead.

His signees didn't disappoint.

"I think about 90 percent of the guys we're bringing in made all-conference teams," he said. "They went out there and had good season.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: ASUN baseball recap: UNF, JU end their seasons with quick eliminations