DeLand, Fla. - Belmont rallied from a five-run deficit and played spoiler on Senior Day for Stetson, defeating the Hatters 11-5 Saturday afternoon at Melching Field.  The Bruins (31-24, 16-11 A-Sun) matched a school record for wins in a season and the Hatters (39-17, 21-6 A-Sun) failed to win a conference series for the first time this year. 

Belmont completed the comeback with an eighth inning scoring binge.  Twelve Bruins came to the plate as the team scored seven runs.  Chuck Manifold, Carlo Tetsa, and Ben Petsch contributed RBI base hits and Packy Elkins doubled in two more. Runs also scored on a sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded balk to put the Bruins on top 11-5.    

Stetson starter Jake Hitchcock was cruising along until a two-out grand slam from Kane Simmons in the sixth inning pulled Belmont within 5-4.  Hitchcock worked 5 2/3 innings before leaving shortly after Kane's home run.     

Ian Thompson (1-2) took the loss in relief, though he pitched to only one batter. 

Josh Moffitt (4-4) evened his record for Belmont after replacing starting pitcher Ben Meador in the fourth inning.  Moffitt turned in five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.  He set down Stetson in order in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings and Bruins pitching retired the final 14 Hatters overall. 

Five different Hatters scored in the first five innings.  Shane Jordan scored his 227th career run in the first inning and in the second drove in his 109th career run to give Stetson a 2-0 lead.

Justin Bass hit his first of two triples in the third inning to score Casey Frawley and Jeremy Cruz tripled in Erich Holland in the fourth.  Holland's sacrifice fly in the fifth brought in Braedyn Pruitt and the Hatters held a 5-0 advantage. 

The three triples from Stetson were the most the team had in one game since stroking four against St. Peter's in February of 2000.  The two triples from Bass were the most by a Hatter in one game since Rusty Beale did the same to Georgia State in April of 2002. 

The last time the Hatters were unable to hold on to a five-run lead was also against Belmont, when the Bruins came back from a six-run deficit on April 22, 2005. 

Bass finished with three hits for his 23rd multi-hit game and his tenth with three hits or more. 

The Hatters will next play as the No. 1 seed in this week's Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament, held at Melching Field in DeLand.  Stetson's first game is Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.