Stetson coach Pete Dunn said before the 2016 season even started that his freshman class would have a big impact on the success of the team this spring.

Sunday's series finale against Maine was all about the freshmen as the Hatters got contributions from numerous first-year players in a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Black Bears, completing a weekend sweep of the series.

No one made a bigger contribution to the Stetson win that left fielder Jacob Koos, who drove in the tying runs with a two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning, and then came in to score the winning run on a hit by another freshman, shortstop Matt Morales.

“It was a battle,” Dunn said. “We didn't do a whole lot right in the game but, when we needed it in the eighth, the guys came through.”

Stetson improved to 10-7 on the season with the sweep of the Black Bears, who fell to 4-11 on the year.

After delivering a lead off single and coming around to score in the first inning, Koos had struck out and popped out in his next two at bats. He singled in a run in the sixth to keep the Hatters close, but got some words of advice from his coach before stepping to the plate in the eighth.

“I told Jacob before he went up there the same thing that I tell him all the time; that he needed to get on top of something,” Dunn said. “He sometimes swings at pitches up and hits pop ups, but that is not his game. There weren't any great words of wisdom, I just told him to look for something down in the zone that he could drive.”

After working the count to 2-2 against Maine reliever Logan Fullmer (0-1), Koos got exactly the kind of pitch Dunn was talking about, and ripped it into right center, just out of reach of a diving try by Tyler Schwanz.

“When the right fielder left his feet on the dive I was praying that he didn't get it,” Dunn said. “If he had pulled up on it and let it drop, then we might not score. We took advantage there.”

The double drove in Cory Reid from second and Mike Spooner, who pinch ran for catcher Jorge Flores after his two-out single, all the way from first. Morales then ripped the first pitch he saw from Fullmer down the line in right to score Koos with the winning run.

“It was a big win, an emotional win,” Dunn said. “It was a heck of a time for Flores to get his first hit. We made a lot of mistakes today – we weren't very good defensively and, at times, we didn't pitch very well, and we didn't swing the bats very well – but we some how hung in there and didn't let it get out of hand. They had chances to score a lot of runs because they had a lot of guys on base, but we managed to keep it close, and that was the key.”

Freshman Joey Gonzalez, the fourth freshman pitcher of the game for Stetson, got the win in relief to improve to 2-0 on the year. Junior closer Walker Sheller came on for a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the victory and earn his fifth save of the season.

Both starting pitchers got off to rocky starts in the game. Maine's Nick Silva loaded the bases in the first by allowing singles to both Koos and Morales before walking John Fussell. The Hatters, however, were only able to plate one in the inning, that coming on a ground out by Vance Vizcaino.

Maine answered right back in the second, loading the bases on two walks from Stetson starter Jack Perkins and a single by Colin Ridley. Like the Hatters, however, the Black Bears only managed one run in the frame, that on a sacrifice fly by Brenden Geary.

Stetson took a 3-1 lead in the third inning when Jack Machonis delivered a two-out, two-run double to score Fussell and Vizcaino, but Maine came right back in the fourth, plating three runs to chase Perkins and take their first lead of the series. Schwanz led off with a triple and, after another walk, Ridley had a two-run double.

Stetson's Logan Gilbert came on to pitch, but gave up an RBI single to Geary for a 4-3 Maine lead.

“We made a lot of mistakes that hopefully we will learn from, especially those young guys out on the mound,” Dunn said. “The two guys that did such a nice job at Miami (Gilbert and Erik Wiebke) both struggled today. They were both up in the zone and Wiebke hung a breaking ball to give up the sixth run, but they'll learn from it.”

Maine got an RBI double from Schwanz in the fifth to push its lead to 5-3, but Stetson got that run right back in the sixth when Koos singled home Reid, who had been hit by a pitch.

A leadoff walk by Wiebke in the seventh inning cost him a run when Ridley delivered another big hit, but Gonzalez came on to put out the fire in the inning by striking out two straight with runners on the corners.

“We had freshmen pitchers and a freshman catcher out there, and that is not the best thing in the world,” Dunn said. “They all have to learn and they are going to be awfully good players for us. The first four pitchers today are all going to be very good for us. They are learning and they are going to make mistakes. It doesn't do my hair much good while they are learning, but we are going to keep running them out there.”

Koos finished the game with three hits, two runs and three driven in while Morales and two hits and the game-winning RBI. Ridley had three hits and drove in three runs for Maine while Schwanz had two hits and scored twice.

The Hatters will now take their first three-game win streak into a new week, with a single game on Tuesday against a South Florida (9-7) team that is also coming off a weekend sweep. Stetson will then host Winthrop (9-7) next weekend for a three-game series.

“The three wins in a row was the big thing to me, doesn't matter that is was a sweep or what,” Dunn said. “We hadn't been able to string that together yet. We have gotten over that hump, but we have a really good team coming in here on Tuesday that we will have to get after to have a chance against. It is good that we only have one mid-week game this week so that we can get our rotation set for next weekend.”