DeLand, Fla. ? Stetson (23-25, 12-12) jumped out to an early lead with six runs in the first inning and then held on for a 10-8 victory over North Florida (19-26, 12-12) Sunday afternoon on Melching Field. It was the fourth time this season the Hatters have won a conference series, and the first time on their home field.

In a game that saw eight Hatters take the mound, Ian Thompson (St. Petersburg, Fla.) earned the victory with one and one third innings of effective work and a pair of strikeouts. He raised his record to 1-1. David Burns (Seminole, Fla.) picked up his third save of the season after working three outs in the ninth inning and striking out a batter. Ospreys' starter John Atteo (Lake Worth, Fla.) took the loss and fell to 1-4 on the season.

Stetson had six players who contributed two hits each led by Mark Jones (Palm Coast, Fla.) who was 2-for-4 with a triple and three RBI, and Jacob deGrom (DeLeon Springs, Fla.) who finished 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Sean Emory (Miami, Fla.), Jeremy Cruz (Miami, Fla.), Aaron Crittenden (Fort Myers, Fla.), and Nick Rickles (Loxahatchee, Fla.) were the other Hatters picking up multiple hits. Crittenden extended his current hitting streak to 14 games.

North Florida marked the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the first before Stetson responded with six in the bottom half of the inning. After the Ospreys added two in the second and one in the fifth the Hatters' lead had been cut to two at 6-4.

Stetson extended its lead to four in the bottom of the sixth. deGrom led off with a walk and moved to second when Emory reached after hustling out a bunt single. Both players advanced when Jeff Simpson (Valrico, Fla.) laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt. The next batter, Casey Frawley (New Haven, Ct.) ripped a double down the left field line and Stetson led 8-4.

The teams traded two-run scoring efforts in the seventh and then UNF added a two-run home run in the top of the ninth before Burns entered the game and closed the door for the home team.