DeLand, Fla. ? Stetson closer Robbie Elsemiller (Okeechobee, Fla.) struck out the last batter of the day to pick his 6th save of the season and close out a Saturday doubleheader sweep of USC Upstate. With three games remaining the Hatters now control their own destiny as far as getting into the A-Sun tournament. If Stetson can win 2-of-3 games at East Tennessee State next weekend the Hatters are guaranteed a spot in the conference playoffs May 21-24 in DeLand.
In the day's opening game the Hatters controlled the action from the outset with four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Justin Bass (DeLand, Fla.) and Robert Crews (Port Charlotte, Fla.) had RBI singles, Brian Pruitt (Miami, Fla.) had an RBI double, and Crews scored the 4th run on a Josh Clendenin (Atlanta, Ga.) Sacrafice fly.
The Hatters added a single run in the 3rd inning on a sacrifice fly by Pruitt to make the score 5-2 and then saw the Spartans creep closer with two more runs in the 4th. That was all starting pitcher Andy Mauldin (Gainesville, Fla.) would allow however, as he shut Upstate down the rest of the way. He threw a complete game allowing four runs on 10 hits and struck out two batters to pick up his 7th win of the season (7-1). Stetson scored five more runs to make the final score 10-4 in game one.
Bass led the way offensively going 3-for-5 with a home run (11th), 4 runs scored and 2 RBI. Shortstop Casey Frawley (New Haven, Ct.) was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored.
The day's second game was a little more dramatic for the Hatter fans. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the 3rd inning on Jeremy Cruz's (Miami, Fla.) 13th home run of the season over the left field wall, the Spartans answered with five runs in the top of the 4th. Upstate then added four runs in the 5th to take a 9-3 lead.
With tournament ramifications hanging over the team, the Hatters did not let down on this day. They began their climb back into the game with two runs in the bottom of the 5th on RBI's by Aaron Crittenden (Fort Myers, Fla.) and Bass.
In the 6th inning Jeff Simpson (Valrico, Fla.) singled, Clendenin doubled, Sean Emory (Miami, Fla.) singled, Frawley singled, Bass singled, and the Hatters ended up with three more runs and were down by just one run at 9-8.
In the bottom of the 8th still down by one, the Hatters exploded for four more runs and took a 12-9 lead. Stetson sent nine batters to the plate and picked up four hits including a key 2 RBI double by Simpson. Elsemiller took care of business from there and the Hatters had a 12-10 victory.
Today was senior day at Melching Field and was the final regular season home games for seniors Louis Michaelos, Mark Rood, Josh Clendenin, Nick Pugliese, Robbie Elsemiller, and Justin Bass.
With the sweep Stetson raised its record to 22-31 overall and 12-18 in A-Sun play. USC Upstate is now 23-27 overall and 14-16 in conference. Stetson will return to the Field next weekend for three final regular-season games at ETSU. 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”.
A-Sun Standings (as of 5/10/08)
