Back on track: UNF snaps losing streak with 4-1 victory over Kennesaw in ASUN tournament
The University of North Florida and Kennesaw State were two teams going in opposite directions when they played on Wednesday in the first round of the ASUN softball tournament.
Ospreys All-ASUN pitcher Morgan Clausen and an opportunistic defense put the brakes on both streaks.
Clausen battled out of several jams, the defense helped in stranding six runners – five in scoring position – and UNF had three RBI singles in the fifth inning as the third-seeded Ospreys beat the sixth-seeded Owls 4-1 at the UNF Softball Complex.
ASUN softball tournament bracket
UNF (40-15) won 40 games for the second time in the program’s NCAA Division I era and advanced to a second-round game at 10 a.m. on Thursday against second-seeded Central Arkansas (33-18), which had a first-round bye.
The Ospreys are two victories away from matching the school record of 42 victories in one season, set in 2013.
Osprey Zone: UNF pitchers set school records for consecutive shutouts, scoreless innings
In the other second-round game top-seeded and defending champion Liberty (40-16) will play No. 4 North Alabama (38-16) at 12:30 p.m. UNA defeated Jacksonville State 6-3 on Wednesday at Jacksonville University’s Pruitt Softball Complex.
The UNF-Central Arkansas loser will face Kennesaw at 3 p.m. and Jacksonville State (31-23) will play the Liberty-North Alabama loser at 5:30 p.m.
The two winners on Thursday will play for the right to advance to the championship game at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. The title game is 1 p.m. on Saturday.
KSU (22-27) won their eighth game in a row over Stetson, 3-2 in nine innings, in a play-in game on Tuesday. UNF lost its last four games of the regular season, the final three a sweep at home by Liberty.
Left fielder Shannon Glover, who delivered the third run-scoring hit of the fifth, said the team has a clean slate.
“We just told ourselves that even though we lost the last series, this is what really matters,” she said. “We’d rather lose to Liberty in the regular season than now.”
Bailee Aguigui and Kayla McGory had the other RBI hits as UNF snapped a 1-1 tie.
KSU out-hit the Ospreys 7-5 and Clausen had only one inning free of baserunners. But she didn't walk a bat
UNF made two errors but saved their best plays when they were needed the most. McGory started an inning-ending double play in the sixth when she flipped the ball from her glove hand to shortstop Savannah Channell and the game ended on a knuckling line drive to right that Aguigui hauled in.
“The defense definitely stepped up big,” Clause said. “It wasn’t my sharpest day at all. But they had my back when it mattered. KSU is always good about taking good pitches and working deep in the count.”
UNF coach Marcie Higgs said she never takes anything for granted about the Owls, who still hold a commanding 50-22 overall lead in the rivalry over the Ospreys, despite losing the last five meetings.
“This was epitome of post-season softball,” Higgs said. “They’re going to scratch and claw because they’re playing for their lives. Kennesaw is always super-scrappy. No lead is safe and we have a lot of respect for that team. They make it hard.”
UNF swept Central Arkansas during the regular-season in a home series, but the scores were 2-0, 1-0 in eight innings and 3-2.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Streak-buster: Ospreys back on track, top Owls 4-1 in ASUN tournament
