Box Score DeLand, Fla. ? Stetson scored five runs in the bottom of the 9th yet could not overcome early lead and fell to the USF Bulls 10-8 Tuesday night on Melching Field.
USF scored all of their runs in two innings with five runs in the top of the 1st and five runs in the 5th.
Stetson put up one run in the bottom of the 4th inning on a Frank Florio (Long Valley, NJ) home run to right field. It was his third round tripper of the season. In the 6th inning the Hatters added two more runs when Florio doubled to left field knocking in Jeremy Cruz (Miami, Fla.) and Justin Bass (DeLand, Fla.). For the game Florio finished 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, three RBI and a run scored.
Heading into the bottom of the 9th inning Stetson was down 10-3 and was on the ropes. As they have done several times this season, however, they fought back with a late charge. After two errors by the Bulls, three Hatters reaching by fielder's choice and base hits for Joe Castellanos (Brandon, Fla.) and Cruz, Stetson had one runner on base and was down by a score of 10-8. Unfortunately for the Hatters fans hanging by a thread, that was as close as the home team would come.
In addition to Florio's outstanding offensive night, Cruz was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored.
Starting pitcher Will Dorsey fell victim to some early errors by his defense and a home run by the Bulls. He pitched just 1 1/3 inning giving up 4 hits and 5 runs, 3 of which were earned. His record fell to 1-1 on the season.
Stetson's overall record dropped to 15-22, while USF raised its mark to 17-18. Stetson returns to the road this weekend for an important A-Sun series at the University of North Florida. Game times are set for 7:00 p.m Friday, 1:00 p.m. Saturday and 1:00 p.m. Sunday. Hatters fans can hear all the action on Hatter Vision audio with play-by-play provided by the voice of Stetson baseball Bill Topping. They can also follow the games on GameWatcher by going to www.gohatters.com and clicking on “Live Stats”.
