DeLand, Fla. - On a night when the visitors lit up the scoreboard the home team bats went cold and Stetson (16-15) fell 14-3 to Bethune-Cookman (16-13) in DeLand. As a team the Hatters could manage just five hits while the Wildcats exploded for 19. The loss ended Stetson's five-game winning streak.
The good news on the night for Hatters fans was the return from injury of Jeff Simpson (Valrico, Fla.). The team's leading hitter (.420) was 2-for-4 extending his current hitting streak to 21 games. Ryan Lashley (Lake Worth, Fla.), Nick Rickles (Loxahatchee, Fla.), and Kurt Schluter (Jupiter, Fla.) had the other three hits for Stetson. Lashley turned on a 2-1 fastball in the bottom of the 1st and ripped a home run over the left field fence with Sean Emory (Miami, Fla.) on base.
Stetson starter Will Dorsey (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) gave up three runs and four hits in two innings of work and suffered the loss and fell to 2-1 on the season. After the Hatters staff gave up 14 runs in the first six innings, Ian Thompson (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Robbie Powell (Punta Gorda, Fla.), and Joe Dye (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) held the Wildcats scoreless over the final nine outs.
Bethune-Cookman has now won the first three games of the four-game season series.
The Hatters hit the road this weekend for a conference series with Mercer. The teams will play one game Friday night at 6:00 p.m. and then a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m. Stetson fans can listen to the games on Hatter Vision by going to www.gohatters.com. The voice of Stetson baseball Bill Topping will call the action.
