JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (March 28, 2008) - Both North Florida and ETSU rolled into Metro-Kiwanis Park on a hot streak, but after the completion of Friday's doubleheader it was the Lady Ospreys who remained on fire by sweeping the Lady Bucs. UNF cooled off ETSU in a critical conference showdown by defeating the Softball Bucs 7-1 in the opener and 11-0 (five innings) in game two.

With the sweep, ETSU fell to 16-20, 3-5 in Atlantic Sun play; while UNF has now made it 12 wins in its last 13 games, improving to 29-15, 6-2. Prior to the double-dip the Lady Bucs won seven of their last eight.  

In game one, both Marissa Hardy (Rocklin, Calif.) and UNF's Devyn Findley were matching each other pitch by pitch thru the first five innings. Hardy took a no-hitter into the fifth, but Ashley Bataglia's single to left ended the bid and woke up the Lady Ospreys' offense. In the final two frames UNF exploded for seven runs on seven hits. The Lady Osprey batters belted two, three-run home runs thanks to Heather Hyde's in the sixth and Ashley Parenteau's in the seventh. Then, UNF went ahead 7-0, on Bataglia's two-out single to right.

The Lady Bucs were held to only one hit in the game and scored their lone run on a Findley fielding error in the bottom half of the seventh. Findley could not handle Kate Powell's (Johnson City) tap back to the circle, giving sophomore Trisha Massenzo (Russellville, Tenn.) the chance to come across the plate. Sophomore Katy Jett (Talbott, Tenn.) recorded ETSU's only hit with a single to left-center in the first, which extended her hitting streak to six straight games.

Findley - last season's Atlantic Sun Freshman of the Year - struck out 13 Lady Buccaneer batters en route to her 16^th victory of the campaign. Hardy - who was coming off her best performance of the season - suffered the loss after surrendering all seven runs on eight hits. The Rocklin, Calif. native fanned seven and walked three.

UNF continued to use the long ball to its advantage in game two as the Lady Ospreys knocked out four more homers.

The Lady Ospreys jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second, but Hyde's hot bat continued to give ETSU pitchers problems in the third and fifth. Hyde connected on a solo shot to right in the third and her second three-run dinger put the visitors from Florida on top, 10-0. Senior Gwen Williams made it back-to-back homers as she sent one flying over the right field fence, making it 11-0.

ETSU was limited to two hits and a walk off senior Tori Ahern. Ahern bumped her record to 12-6 by tossing five scoreless innings; while freshman Ashley Boyd (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had her three-game win streak come to an end. Boyd suffered her fourth loss of the season after being tagged for five runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings.

Jett continued to keep her hitting streak intact with a single in the fourth. The right-handed slugger has now hit safely in seven consecutive games, and is one shy of tying the season high (set by Massenzo). 

The Softball Bucs close out their six-game homestand with yet another important conference doubleheader with Jacksonville. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

For more information on Lady Buccaneer softball, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.