It was one of the stranger River City Rumble baseball weekends between the University of North Florida and Jacksonville University.
Both teams scored 15 runs in back-to-back blowouts.
The 100th game between the two teams lasted only seven innings.
And a pitcher’s duel for six innings ended in another lopsided victory, this time by UNF to take the series two games to one at the Dolphins’ Sessions Stadium May 15-17, matching the series victory by the Dolphins at UNF in March and leaving the two teams tied at 3-3 in the 2025 regular season.
Oddly enough, the final three games of the regular season didn’t change a thing in the final Graphite Division standings: JU (28-23, 17-13) remained second behind division champion Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast stayed a game ahead of the Ospreys (27-27, 15-15) for third place.
UNF and JU now turn their attention to the ASUN Tournament May 20-25 in DeLand, where Stetson will defend its 2024 championship. JU will play North Alabama at 9 a.m. on May 20 and the Ospreys will face Gold Division champion Austin Peay at 12:30 p.m.
If UNF and JU win, they will play in the second round on May 22 at 2 p.m. A loss for either team puts them in elimination games on May 21.
The River City Rumble provided fireworks from start to finish as UNF and JU got in their final tune-ups before the tournament.
Game 1: Nick Monile leads Ospreys
UNF center fielder Nick Monile went 3 for 5 with four runs scored and four RBI as the Ospreys scored eight runs over the final three innings to win 15-4.
The Dolphins took their only lead of the game when Jonah Shields tripled and scored on Josh Steidl’s sacrifice fly but UNF, which had been baffled in the last two seasons by JU pitcher Richard Long, got the better of the matchup, starting with a three-run third. Monile’s double, a two-run single by Jabin Bates and two JU throwing errors were the key plays.
The Ospreys got three more in the fourth, with Monile driving in two with a single and JU committing another throwing error and St. Johns Country Day graduate Seth Alford doubled and scored in the fifth for a 7-1 lead.
UNF poured it on with a five-run seventh, highlighted by Monile’s two-run single and two more JU errors (the Dolphins committed five in the game) and three bases-loaded walks, all on 3-2 counts, gave UNF three more runs in the top of the ninth.
Kai Etwaru (4-4) got the victory after pitching 2.2 innings in relief of starter Clay Hendry of Middleburg, who struck out four in three innings.
Game 2: Dolphins jump on UNF early
Jacksonville didn’t wait long to get payback in the 100th meeting between the two teams. A six-run first was sparked by a two-run double by Sammy Mummau, a two-run single by Aidan Masters and an RBI single by Chad Hentz.
The Dolphins went on to score at least one run in each of the first five innings. Shields led the second off with a homer and Blake DeLamielleure had a run-scoring hit in the second; Mummau singled, stole second and third and scored on an infield grounder in the third; Hentz hit a two-run triple in the fourth; and Steidl homered to highlight the fifth.
Six JU players had two hits and Mummau and Masters had three RBI each.
Blake Barquin (5-4) struck out five in 2.2 innings for the victory.
Game 3: Monile breaks the game open
Monile, who went 6 for 10 with eight RBI in the series, broke open a close game with a two-run homer in the seventh and a two-run single in a three-run eighth.
Clayton Boroski (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of starter Trevor Nikolis and got the victory. Boroski struck out three of the seven batters he faced. Nikolis struck out five and six UNF pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts and only one walk.
Conner Moore of Macclenny extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a double in the first inning. Moore is hitting .491 during his streak (28 for 57), with 13 runs and 11 RBI.
Shields went 2 for 4 and was 6 of 13 against UNF in the series.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: UNF Ospreys capture rubber game of River City Rumble baseball series