Rumble in the sky: Dolphins, Ospreys game called due to poor weather

The third game of the series between Jacksonville University and University of North Florida was called in the second inning due to lightning and rain in the area.

The Ospreys were leading the Dolphins 2-0 after errant pitches and errors helped score runners in the opening inning. Then the game was delayed due to lightning strikes in the vicinity of the stadium. Fans were asked to seek shelter.

Then rain began to fall and after roughly two hours of poor weather, the game was called with no makeup date.

Jacksonville won the first two games in the series. Here’s a look at those games:

UNF-JU baseball series: Takeaways from first of two three-game sets between the two ASUN rivals

Finally, on Friday: JU snaps a four-game losing streak in series openers by topping UNF

Close game: Christian Coipel homer, Tyler Vogel save lifts Jacksonville over North Florida 5-4

Series recap

JU 6, UNF 4

Highlights: In the bottom of the seventh, JU was on the verge of getting three walks and a single, and not scoring a run, mainly because UNF center fielder Justin Holmes threw out Clayton Hodges at the plate on Chase Malloy's single. But Elias Flowers walked, Christian Coipel hit an infield single deep to short and Blake DeLamielleure flared an inside pitch over Isaiah Byar's head at short for three two-out runs. ... Despite the vast expanse of Sessions Stadium, UNF's Justin Holmes and Trey Spratling-Williams hit tape-measure home runs. Holmes went over the centerfield wall and Spratling-Williams hit a missile that bounced off a light pole in right-center.

Heroes: JU starting pitcher Mason Adams recovered from five rocky starts in a row (he gave up 36 hits in 31 innings and had a 7.12 ERA) to allow three hits in seven innings. ... Flowers stretched full-out to snare a line drive by Grant Grodi in the seventh inning and Coipel scooped a low throw from Malloy to complete an inning-ending double play in the eighth. ... Flowers reached base four times on two walks, getting hit by a pitch and a single. He also stole a base. ... DeLamielleure came back from two bat at-bats to collect two hits and a shot to deep center that Holmes ran down. DeLamielleure grounded weekly to Holden to start an inning-ending double play in the first and struck out looking in the fourth.

Inside baseball: UNF starter Peter Holden continued to pitch well and has seven starts in a row in which he's gone five or more innings. He has a 3.38 ERA with 34 strikeouts and 33 hits allowed in 45.1 innings over that span and the Ospreys are 5-2 in those games.

JU 5, UNF 4

Highlights: The Dolphins clinched a three-game regular-season series against UNF for the first time since 2018 by winning the fifth one-run game in the last six. JU built a 5-1 lead on a combination of scratching out single runs in the second, third and sixth innings, then got a big blow when Christian Coipel hit a two-run homer in the seventh. Relief pitcher Tyler Vogel struck out UNF's Brock Edge with the bases loaded to end the eighth and then retired the side in the ninth for his ninth save, tied for second in the ASUN.

Heroes: Coipel slammed his 13th homer of the season and his second against UNF. It's the most in one year since Austin Hays had 16 in 2016. ... Vogel's save was hard-earned ... he entered the game with two out in the eighth after the Ospreys had scored three runs to cut JU's lead to 5-4, then walked the bases loaded before his strikeout of Edge. ... Aidan Sweatt's homer in the third for UNF was his first against the Dolphins and third of the season. It also gave him a 10-game hitting streak against JU.

Inside baseball: When JU forced UNF pitchers to go deep in the count, they find the most success. In the Dolphins' five victories in the last two seasons through Saturday, UNF averaged 153 pitches and had 19 walks and eight hit batters. In UNF's eight victories, they averaged 145 pitches, walked 24 and hit only one batter.

Tournament Outlook

The ASUN Conference Championship will be played in Fort Myers from May 24-28. It’ll have two pools of four teams with the top four teams in Pool A and the bottom four in Pool B.

The top three seeds in each division will automatically qualify for the championship. The final two spots would be selected via NCAA RPI.

Currently, the defending champions from 2021 Jacksonville University would make Pool B. North Florida is outside of the bubble and would have to win their home series against Florida Gulf Coast from Thursday to Saturday to hope to climb the rankings.

Seeds will be selected at the conclusion of all ASUN baseball contest next weekend.

What's next

Jacksonville is at Stetson and UNF is home against Florida Gulf Coast. Both series begin on Thursday. JU and UNF won the previous sets against those opponents 2-1.

Juston Lewis is a sports reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @JustonLewis_.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: A look at the JU-UNF series last weekend