Far from artistic, JU Dolphins get the job done in winning first game of series vs. UNF

Jacksonville University got solid, if not spectacular pitching performances at the front and back end of the game and a clutch homer run from an unlikely source to beat the University of North Florida 7-4 on Thursday in the first game of their crucial River City Rumble and ASUN baseball series at Sessions Stadium and the 90th meeting in the history of the rivalry.

JU (31-22, 15-13) is tied with Liberty and Eastern Kentucky for fifth place in the ASUN, with UNF (28-25, 13-15) and Austin Peay (14-14) remaining in contention. One team will be eliminated Friday or Saturday in the race for the final four spots in the ASUN tournament, with losses on Thursday by Central Arkansas and Kennesaw (both 12-16) knocking them out.

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The weekend sets began with seven teams vying for the final four spots in the tournament.

JU and UNF will play at 7 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday. Thursday's game was delayed one hour to allow the Dolphins' field to drain after torrential rain in the afternoon.

"Any time you win a game you've got a chance to play another day and that's what is huge for us right now," said JU coach Chris Hayes. "The guys competed. It still wasn't as clean as we would like. We pitched well enough. We played defense well enough. But they were relentless in their approach in a super-competitive environment against a really good team."

UNF coach Tim Parenton, whose team had clawed back into contention by going 6-2 in May prior to Thursday, said the task remains the same for his team on Friday when the two teams play against at 7 p.m.

"Coming in we knew we had to win at least two games and we still have to win two games," he said. "We didn't do anything to win this ballgame and that's the bottom line."

The Ospreys left 15 runners on base and three times ended an inning with the bases loaded. They committed four errors and three of JU's runs were unearned.

JU wasn't sharp, as three pitchers combined to issue six walks and hit four batters.

The Dolphins' big inning was in the fourth when Tommy Joseph and Hogan McIntosh ignited a four-run rally from a 2-0 deficit with back-to-back doubles. After UNF pitcher Peter Holden threw away Colin Wetterau's sacrifice bunt and Chase Malloy drove in another run with a squeeze bunt, Kris Armstrong capped the inning with a two-run single.

McIntosh doubled and scored and unearned run in the fourth and Joseph walked and scored on an outfield error in the sixth.

The Dolphins got a cushion in the eighth when Wetterau hit his first career college homer in his 439th at-bat off relief pitcher Will Ohme. Joseph, McIntosh and Wetterau, the bottom three players in JU's order, scored all but one of their team's runs and went 4 for 10.

"That's what coach Hayes told us to do -- be laser-focused," Wetterau said. "I got a good pitch to hit and we've shown all year that one through nine [in the batting order], we can get the job done."

JU freshman Evan Chrest (7-2) battled his way through three walks, two hit batters and six hits in 5.2 innings to get the victory. Leighton Alley threw 2.1 innings of two-hit relief and Chris Lotito shook off two walks to get his 14th save of the season, tied for first in the nation with Kent State's Mitchell Scott.

Holden (4-5) struck out nine in 6.2 innings. Austin Brinling, Aidan Sweatt and Gabriel Esquivel had two hits each.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: JU Dolphins beat UNF 7-4 to win opener in crucial ASUN baseball series