Jacksonville University cleared its first hurdle at the ASUN baseball tournament, rolling up four runs in the sixth inning and defeating Austin Peay 7-1 at Melching Field in DeLand.
Third baseman Logan Baratta delivered a 396-foot home run to right field against Cody Airington (4-3) for the go-ahead run to open the bottom of the fifth inning for the Dolphins, right after Cole Johnson’s fielder’s choice had scored Kyler Proctor for Austin Peay (24-31) to tie it at 1-1.
The Dolphins then piled on in the sixth with singles from Sammy Mummau and Roger Vergara, an RBI double from Derek Bermudez, a walk to Abdriel Delgado and a two-run single from Conner Spelman.
Alex Walsh (8-3) pitched five innings to earn the win for JU (30-24), allowing five hits, a run and two walks while striking out five. The Dolphin bullpen allowed no hits the rest of the way, closing with two scoreless innings from former Columbia High School standout Ayden Phillips.
Left fielder Blake Edmonds went 3 for 3 and reached all four times for JU, while Vergara, Bermudez, Baratta and Spelman had two hits apiece.
The Dolphins advance to a single-elimination second-round game at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 20, against No. 4 seed North Alabama. The winner then plays top seed North Florida at 10 a.m. May 21, raising the possibility of a River City Rumble in the semifinals.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville University baseball beats Austin Peay in ASUN tournament