Box Score Buies Creek, N.C. ? The Stetson baseball team (19-24, 10-11 Atlantic Sun) rallied from a two-run deficit in the eighth inning to beat host Campbell (22-19, 6-14 A-Sun) 8-5 in the finale of a three-game Atlantic Sun conference series at Taylor Field on Saturday. Senior right fielder Jeremy Cruz (Miami, Fla.) went two for four with the go-ahead RBI double while junior shortstop/center fielder Casey Frawley (New Haven, Conn.) was four for five with two RBI and two runs scored. Frawley finished a home run shy of a cycle. Sophomore pitcher Nick Bohne (Melbourne, Fla.) tossed 1.2 no-hit innings for his second win of the season.
Trailing 5-3 after Camel first baseman Bryan Gana's two-out three-run homer off freshman starter Lindsey Caughel (Orlando, Fla.) in the bottom of the seventh, the Hatters wasted no time tying the game in the eighth as junior designated hitter Aaron Crittenden (Fort Myers, Fla.) led off with a single. He soon trotted home when freshman catcher Nick Rickles (Loxahatchee, Fla.) blasted his fifth home run of the season over the left field wall to make it a 5-5 ballgame.
Bohne entered the game in the bottom of the eighth in relief of freshman Ryan Sweat (Deltona, Fla.) with one out and runners on the corners; the righthander struck out left fielder Chris Bangi and second baseman Ellis Lowe to end the inning and give the Hatters a chance to win it in the ninth.
Stetson did just that as Frawley led off with a single to right and immediately scored when Cruz sent his 15th double of the season flying into the right center field gap, putting the Hatters ahead 6-5 against Campbell lefty Jonathan Lopez. Stetson scored a pair of insurance runs on RBI singles by sophomore shortstop Jacob DeGrom (DeLeon Springs, Fla.) and freshman second baseman Mark Jones (Palm Coast, Fla.) to go up 8-5; Bohne retired the side without a hit in the ninth as Stetson took the series two games to one.
Caughel enjoyed a strong day up until Gana's blast; he struck out five batters in 6.2 economical innings and only walked one. Rickles went two for four with a homer and a double while Cruz and sophomore third baseman Sean Emory (Miami, Fla.) had two hits as well.
Ryan Hamme had an outstanding day for the Camels both at the plate and on the mound as he went four for five with a run scored and an RBI while tossing seven strong innings. He entered in relief in the first with three runs already in for Stetson (Frawley two-run triple, Cruz RBI single) and proceeded to keep the Hatters off the scoreboard from then until the Rickles home run.
Stetson will be back in action Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Melching Field when Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman comes to town for a midweek contest. The FIU Golden Panthers will follow B-CU on Wednesday at the same time at Melching Field; Bill Topping calls all the action on Hatter Vision with Live Stats also available through www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
