Baseball tries for D-II national championship
By Eddie Rapuano
Contributing Writer

While most University of North Florida students were just starting to make plans for their summers, the Osprey baseball team was making its final attempt to clinch a national championship as a Division II team.

UNF finished with a 23-7 Peach Belt Conference record and an overall mark of 48-16. One Osprey turning in an outstanding campaign was outfielder Sadry Cafe, who ended the regular season with a .371 batting average and 54 RBIs. Marion Knowles led the team in home runs, with 18 and RBIs with 57. Josh Howard’s 25 stolen bases led the club, followed by Brennan Grogan, who finished the year with 23 thefts.

Photo courtesy of sports information Right to left, senior first baseman Marion Knowles and junior pitcher Ryan Amason speak at a NCAA press conference in Montgomery, Ala.

UNF was the host of this year’s NCAA South Atlantic Regional Championships. The May 19 game against University of South Carolina at Aiken pitted right-hander Jacob Dixon against Aiken’s Steve Dunham. Dixon went the distance, giving up one run and four hits and striking out five to give the Ospreys a 3-1 win.

After recording the win against USC Aiken, the Ospreys advanced to play 11th-ranked Kennesaw State. In the bottom of the 11th inning, UNF was defeated 10-9. The loss went to the Ospreys’ third pitcher of the game, Josh Papelbon.

Travis Martin took the mound in the second game against Kennesaw and went seven innings, allowing no runs on seven hits. Papelbon came in to close out the game. UNF defeated KSU 8-3 before beating Aiken again 10-9. The third game against KSU resulted in a 6-5 Osprey victory, making UNF the regional champions.

The start of the 2005 College World Series took the team to Montgomery, Ala. Game one put the Ospreys up against Southern Connecticut State University. Dixon struck out five, allowing one earned run in the 7-1 win.

The next two games also produced wins for the Ospreys. Ryan Amason’s 13 strikeouts helped best West Virginia State. In the final round’s third contest, UNF beat Grand Valley State University 2-1 behind two Cafe RBIs.

The championship game, which would be the last Division II game played by UNF, put Dixon against No. 2-ranked Florida Southern College. Without his best stuff, Dixon was touched for six runs in four innings. The Ospreys, however, were able to answer with eight runs, five of which were batted in by Knowles. But Amason, brought on in relief in the fifth inning, yielded five runs and Florida Southern beat UNF 12-9 to take the NCAA Division II Championship title.

Contact Eddie Rapuano at uspinnak@unf.edu.