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Resume Check: Looking ahead to South Carolina baseball's next opponent, the North Florida Ospreys

by:Kevin Miller•04/21/25•

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North Florida Ospreys freshman infielder Seth Alford. Photo credit: North Florida Athletics
North Florida Ospreys freshman infielder Seth Alford. Photo credit: North Florida Athletics

This weekend, South Carolina baseball won its first SEC series since the first weekend of May last season. The two victories over No. 11 Ole Miss snapped a streak of seven straight SEC series defeats. When the dust settled from the weekend, the Gamecocks’ overall record moved to 23-18 and 4-14 in SEC play.

With an extra off-day in between (USC didn’t play on Easter Sunday), South Carolina will take on the North Florida Ospreys in this week’s mid-week action.

Resume Check: North Florida Ospreys

Record: 21-19 (9-9 in ASUN)
D1Baseball Ranking: N/A
Last Week: 2-1 series win over West Georgia in Carrollton, 14-3 mid-week loss to Bethune-Cookman in Jacksonville

The North Florida Ospreys are a solid baseball team. Five losses against power conference opponents weigh the overall record down, but Joe Mercadante’s team is better in his second year with the program.

During the preseason, the league’s coaches accurately predicted that the Ospreys would take a step forward to become a middle-of-the-pack team in the ASUN. However, the coaches whiffed when they excluded UNF from the preseason all-conference team. Several players (especially pitchers) have real arguments for inclusion on the list that matters at the end of the season.

Pitching is what carries the day for the Ospreys. The team’s two top starters–junior right-hander Will Ross and freshman righty Bryson Treichel–have been really good. Both players hold ERAs under 4.00 and have limited the walks. Treichel, in particular, has been tough against opposing hitters, striking out 58 batters in 48 innings. Clay Hendry, the newly-installed Saturday starter (Ross handles Fridays, while Treichel pitches on Sundays), is also a strikeout threat, having fanned 43 hitters in 35.2 innings pitched.

On offense, North Florida doesn’t hit for much power. The entire team has just 34 home runs. However, they get on base to the tune of a .381 on-base percentage. They are aggressive when they get on; the Ospreys attempt to steal fairly often and routinely try to take extra bases on balls in play. Outfielder Nick Monile is the most selective Osprey at the plate, having logged 34 walks compared to just 15 strikeouts this season. He leads the team with a .469 OBP.

In four tries, North Florida has just one win over a power conference foe in mid-week games this year. In contrast, despite it being a tough season, USC is a perfect 10-0 in mid-week contests against mid-major programs.

South Carolina baseball coach Paul Mainieri hasn’t revealed his pitching plans for Tuesday night’s matchup. Based on recent weeks, Tyler Pitzer or Jackson Soucie seem to be the most likely options. Pitzer had an ineffective relief stint Saturday but didn’t throw enough to exclude him from mid-week consideration. Brandon Stone, Jake McCoy, and Jarvis Evans started the three weekend games, and Matthew Becker threw over four innings in relief.

The South Carolina Gamecocks and North Florida Ospreys will play on Tuesday night at Founders Park. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. SEC Network+ will stream the action.

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