The new ASUN baseball scheduling format has created a schedule for Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida that will begin with a bang at UNF’s Harmon Stadium and quite likely end in high drama at JU’s Sessions Stadium.
The conference has split the baseball (and softball) into two six-team divisions, the “Gold Division for teams in the Northern footprint of the ASUN and the “Graphite” Division for those in the South.
JU and UNF are in the Graphite Division with Stetson, Florida Gulf Coast, West Georgia and Queens. The Gold Division is Lipscomb, Austin Peay, Bellarmine, North Alabama, Central Arkansas and Eastern Kentucky.
There will be no intra-divisional play. Each team will play two three-game sets against its five division opponents, for 30 league games. The top four teams in each division advance to the ASUN Tournament, which begins May 20 in DeLand.
JU, UNF open and close with each other
Here’s the best part for JU and UNF: they open the conference season March 14-16 with the first River City Rumble series and close the conference season May 15-17 with the second three-game set.
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“I really like the new schedule,” said Dolphins coach Chris Hayes. “We start the conference 0-0 against UNF and that last series could determine a lot … who wins the division, who makes the tournament, seeding. We’ve got four Florida teams in the southern division, our longest bus ride will be six hours to Carrolton Ga., or Charlotte but it’s going to be very difficult.”
“It’s going to get the competitive juices going,” added Ospreys coach Joe Mercadante. “A lot of the kids on the four Florida teams in the ASUN played travel ball and high school with and against each other.”
Stetson was picked by the conference coaches as the preseason No. 1 team, with Florida Gulf Coast second, JU fourth and UNF seventh.
As far as the teams the two will put on the field on Friday for the first games of three-game sets to begin the 2025 season (JU will host West Virginia, UNF entertains Notre Dame), a tough non-conference schedule will tell the story.
In addition to opening with three-game sets against teams from the ACC (Notre Dame) and Big 12 (West Virginia) JU and UNF will both play Florida and Florida State before the conference schedule starts.
The Dolphins are at home against the Gators on Feb. 18 (6 p.m.) and the Seminoles on Feb. 25 (6 p.m.), while the Ospreys go on the road to play UF on Feb. 26 (6:30 p.m.) and FSU on March 4 (6 p.m.).
After the conference season starts, the two teams will play road games against national powers. UNF goes back to Gainesville to play the Gators on April 1 and plays at South Carolina on April 22; while JU is at Florida on March 18 and at FSU on April 1 and May 6.
JU rebuilds staff around Richard Long
JU, which lost five pitchers to the transfer portal, must rebuild its staff around All-ASUN senior right-hander Richard Long, a Clay High graduate, and senior righty Blake Barquin. The Dolphins return 13 of 19 position players and hope to get a big boost from graduate senior Blake DeLamielleure, who played only two games last year because of a season-ending hip injury.
“Blake’s healthy and I think we’re going to get the best version of him,” Hayes said of the multi-talented outfielder, who hit for a natural cycle against UNF the last time he played a regular-season conference game in 2023.
As far as losing nearly half his pitching staff to transfers, including 2023 All-ASUN starter Evan Chrest and solid middle reliever and spot starter Peyton Prescott to Florida State, Hayes said he and his staff will have a short memory.
“There’s no reason to complain about it,” he said. “We put a priority in this program on development and we won’t waver from that. If the by-product is that some leave, that’s the world we’re in. I’d rather focus on the guys that stay. The guys we have are JU blood. They’re here, they didn’t leave and I love the energy of the guys who want to be Dolphins.”
Ospreys making wholesale changes
Mercadante, who has to rebuild after losing eight position players and 11 pitchers to graduation, exhaustion of their eligibility or the portal, likes the competitive nature and bond his team has developed despite 25 new faces that include 10 true freshmen and seven direct transfers from junior colleges.
“It’s a competitive group … everything they do, they really get after each other,” he said. “We’ve got that family bond in the locker room but when it’s scrimmage time there’s always a little chirping. It matters to these guys. The newcomers are driven to prove themselves at this level, and that’s exciting. We have a new identity, a new team excited to prove what they can do.”
First Coast NCAA Division I teams
Jacksonville Dolphins
Coach: Chris Hayes (ninth season, 221-198, .527).
2024 record: 27-31 (20-13 ASUN).
2025 opener: Feb. 14, home vs. West Virginia, 6 p.m.
Key returning players: DH Chandler Howard (Jr., .347, 5 HR, 38 RBI); C-1B Josh Steidl (Sr. .293, 8 HR, 52 RBI); OF Blake DeLamielleure (Gr., .302, 1 2B, 6 HRs, 33 RBI in 2023); OF Clayton Hodges (Jr., .285, 12-14 sb); RHP Richard Long (Sr., 8-2, 3.80); RHP Blake Barquin (Sr., 6.56, 2-5).
Key transfers: RHP Collin Rothemel (Sr., 1-3, 6.04 in 2023 at Kansas State); LHP Alex Walsh (Jr., 1-4, 9,21 at Florida Southwest State, 0-0, 5.40 in 11 games at Miami in 2023); RHP Nick Anello (Jr., 0-1, 6.27 at East Florida State).
Outlook: The transfer portal decimated the Dolphins pitching staff, with Evan Chrest (FSU), Peyton Prescott (FSU), Isaac Williams (UCF), Tommy Allman (Oklahoma State) and Divine Valle (Shorter) departing. Hayes has one of the top weekend starters in the conference in Long, a preseason All-ASUN player and hopes are that senior Chris Lotito can bounce back from an injury that limited him to eight appearances last year and return to form as one of the nation’s top closers. He had 14 saves to lead the ASUN, the second-most in team history.
The good news is the Dolphins lost only one transfer among position players, Justin Nadeau (Florida) and his production (.395) could be offset by the return of his former Bartram Trail teammate DeLamielleure, who hit .302 with 15 doubles and six homers in 2023. Preseason All-ASUN DH Howard, Steidl and 1B Abdriel Delgado can provide pop in the middle of the lineup and Episcopal graduate Hodges and OF Jaden Bastian, who combined to swipe 23 of 26 bases, set the table at the top.
North Florida Ospreys
Coach: Joe Mercadante (second season, 21-30-1, 11-17-1 ASUN).
2024 record: 21-30-1, (11-17-1 ASUN).
2025 opener: Feb. 14, home vs. Notre Dame, 6:30 p.m.
Key returning players: C Jabin Bates (Sr., .271, .988 fielding percentage); OF Drew Leinenbach (Sr., .261, 10-12 sb); 1B Cade Bush (Sr. .250, 27 RBI); RHP Jordan Wimpelberg (Sr., 4.62, 3-3); RHP Kaden Humphrey (Jr., 5.65, 1-2 43 Ks in 36.2 IP); RHP Clayton Boroski (Sr., 5.74, 1-3).
Key transfers (2024 stats): SS Mitchell Collins (Soph., .374, 4 HRs, 13 2B, 40 RBI, 16-16 sb at Kentucky State); CF Nick Monile (Soph., .341, 3 HR, 36 RBI at Niagara); LHP Kai Etwaru (3.91, 7-0, 74 Ks in 73.1 IP at Delaware State); RHP Ryan Furey (Jr., 2,90, 7-2 at Rollins).
Outlook: The bottom line is that the Ospreys must improve an offense that finished last in the ASUN in hitting (.246), last in home runs (31) and next-to-last in OBP (.353). It’s why former Florida All-American and Major League Brad Wilkerson was brought in as the hitting coach and Mercadante said he already sees improvement in practice and preseason scrimmages.
UNF will not be confused with anyone’s Murderer’s Row. Returning players accounted for only eight homers last year but Mercadante is hoping for a gap-hitting lineup with good baserunning skills.
Transfers may play a big part in the Ospreys’ success. Collins looks like he’ll be the opening-day shortstop, and ditto for Monile in center. With Bates returning at catcher, the Ospreys will be strong up the middle. Transfers also could be two-thirds of the weekend rotation, Furey and Etwaru.
First Coast NCAA Division II teams
Edward Waters Tigers
Coach: Reginald Johnson II (13th season, 340-301-1, .641).
2024 record: 31-19 (21-11 SIAC), won SIAC title, went 3-2 in Black College World Series.
2025 opener: Season started on Jan. 31.
Key returning players (2024 stats): 2B-OF Dave Mitchum (Sr., .309, 53 runs, 19-23 sb); 3B Hugo Schoening (Sr., .305, 12 2B, 43 RBI); DH-OF Torrey Jones (Sr., .348, 13 2B, 41 RBI); SS Misael Ramos (Soph., .317, 31 RBI); RHP Anthony Byyat (Jr., 8-1, 5.54); RHP Alexander Davila (Gr., 9-2, 6.45, five complete games).
Flagler Saints
Coach: Greg Gulliams (35th season overall, first at Flagler, 1,178-580-2 at Valdosta State and Embry-Riddle).
2024 record: 29-24 (16-11 Peach Belt).
2025 opener: Season started on Jan. 31.
Key returning players: C Jesse Sullivan (Soph., .397, 4 HR, 40 RBI); 2B-SS Mason Gray (Sr., .290, 16-20 sb); 3B Payton Palladino (Soph., .253, 10 2B, 3 HR, 24 RBI); RHP Cooper Smith (Sr., 8-5, 4.21); LHP Ben Stubbs (Jr., 4-2, 2.68, 55 Ks in 50.1 IP); RHP Jake Hill (Jr., 1-1, 1.65).
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