WATCH

Jacksonville, FL - Wagner will be looking to snap its four-game losing streak when the Seahawks square off with North Florida tonight at Harmon Stadium. First pitch of the two-game series is slated for 7:00 pm. Live Stats will be available through the Wagner Athletics website by clicking HERE

The Green & White enter tonight's game with a 1-6 record after dropping three games to fellow Atlantic Sun member Jacksonville over the weekend. Although Wagner was outscored by a 36-7 margin, the games were a lot closer than the final scores indicated. In the first game, the Seahawks trailed just 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning before the Dolphins' offense came to life. Wagner then dropped a 7-3 heartbreaker before falling 9-0 in the series finale as the the offense went just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Leading the way for Seahawks over the weekend was Kevin McDonnell (Bristol, CT / Avon Old Farms). The seasoned fifth-year senior hit .455 (5-11) with three RBI, one home run and one double while posting an .818 slugging percentage over the three games. In the series opener, he went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI before following that up with the Green & White's first home run of the year, highlighting 2-for-4 day at the plate. He is now batting a team-best .360 (9-25) with five RBI while recording team-highs in slugging percentage (.640) and OBP (.407).

Also standing out on the offense was junior Hayden Hunter (Santa Monica, CA / Notre Dame), who batted .500 (4-8) while hitting safely in all three games against Jacksonville.

Over the season's first seven games the team's biggest surprise has been senior Jack Rice (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata). After going hitless in 11 at-bats in 2010, the Garden State native is batting a solid .280 (7-25) while filling the void left by Vin Avella, who graduated as the NEC's all-time home run leader with 50.

Taking the ball in game one will be Christian Rautenstrauch (Charlotte, NC / Providence Day). The sophomore right-handed pitcher hurled a hitless inning of relief at Jacksonville on Saturday after yielding three runs over 2.0 innings against a stout Kent State squad in his first action of the year.

North Florida enters tonight's game with a 5-3 record in former LSU head coach Smoke Laval's first year at the helm of the Ospreys. UNF began conference play last weekend, dropping two-of-three to Florida Gulf Coast University.

The Ospreys are a team built on pitching and timely hitting as they have posted a 2.54 team ERA while batting .273. Leading the way on offense is Kyle Dahl. The senior backstop is hitting a team-best .350 (7-20) with two doubles and a home run. Classmate Andrew Hannon checks in next with a .333 average (9-27). Rounding out the .300 hitters are freshman Tyler Marincov (.318) and senior Michael Smith (.303).

Sophomore LHP Tommy Organ (0-0; 2.70 ERA; 3.1 IP; 3 K/2 BB) will take the ball in tonight's game.

THE SERIES
UNF leads the all-time series by a 3-1 count with all games being played in Jacksonville.
2010 - UNF 11 Wagner 7
1994 - Wagner 5 UNF 2
1992 - UNF 13 Wagner 1
1991 - UNF 8 Wagner 3

LAST MEETING
UNF 11 Wagner 7 - 3/7/11
Wagner scored the first three runs of the game and led 6-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning before the UNF bats awoke. The Ospreys struck for single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings before plating seven runs over their final two trips to the plate. Avella went 3-for-5 with a home run run and four RBI while McDonnell was 2-for-4. Dahl (2-3; HR) and Smith (2-4; 2 runs) had big games for UNF.

HEATING UP
Senior Seth Boyd (Perth Amboy, NJ / Perth Amboy) went hitless (0-7) over the first two games at Jacksonville before rebounding to go 2-for-4 in the serires-finale against the Dolphins. For Wagner to be successful the Seahawks will need the Garden State native to continue to hit the ball. He started the year with a four-game hitting streak and is batting .320 (8-25) while recording three multi-hit games.

MOVING ON UP
McDonnell has nine hits this year and Boyd eight as the pair are currently ranked 11th (162 hits) and 12th (161 hits) in the all-time Wagner annals. With four more, McDonnell will match former teammate Chris Drechsel and former Atlanta Brave farmhand Joe Francisco for ninth all-time (166 hits). Boyd is also tied for ninth with 33 career doubles.

DRAFT NOTES
The next two games will feature two freshmen players that were selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. Freshman Ian Vazquez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico / Perkiomen (PA)) was taken in the 45th round by the Houston Astros while Marincov of UNF was taken in the 48th round by the Detroit Tigers.

DID YOU KNOW???
UNF coach Smoke Laval had the unenviable task of replacing college baseball coaching legend Skip Bertman at LSU. He helped lead the Tigers to the 2003 and 2004 College World Series over his five years from 2002-2006.

WANT TO WATCH?
Games can be viewed at A-Sun.TV.  The price is $5.99 per game or $9.99 for a month subscription. Both Seahawk games will be shown on Atlantic Sun TV.

UP NEXT
Wagner heads to UCF for three games this weekend.