Newark, NJ – The Stetson Hatters established new season highs for both runs and hits on a cold, rainy and windy night to take a 16-6 series-opening victory over NJIT Friday night at Riverfront Stadium.

The Hatters (22-23, 6-7 in Atlantic Sun) produced 20 hits in the game, the most for Stetson in a game since a 29-hit performance against USC Upstate on May 16, 2014. The Hatters' previous high for hits this year was 15, which came against Upstate back on April 23.

Overall, 10 different Hatters had hits in the game, including all nine starters.

“We came out of the shoot in the first couple of innings and put runs on the board and then we just kept building from there,” Hatters coach Pete Dunn said. “It looked like the lead was pretty safe, but then we had a bad inning to let them back in it. I was proud of the way we kept scoring from that point on.”

The Hatters jumped on NJIT starter Sean Lubreski (4-7) early, scoring a run in the first and three more in the second. After a quiet third inning, Stetson added four more runs in the fourth, three of which came courtesy of New York native John Fussell on an opposite field home run against a steady wind.

“That was pretty exciting,” Dunn said. “He had a lot of family at the game and not only had the home run, but had a big game.”

In addition to the home run, his third of the year, Fussell had one of the six Stetson doubles in the game and drove in four.

With an 8-0 lead, Stetson sophomore Brooks Wilson (5-6) was on cruise control. He allowed just two hits over five innings of work with a walk and two strikeouts. On a cold night, the Hatters decided to get Wilson out of the game in the sixth with a 9-0 lead.

“Brooks was throwing really well, but he got a little tight, so we decided to get him out of there early,” Dunn said.

That sixth inning appeared as if it would be just what the doctor ordered for freshman Jack Perkins. He struck out the first two hitters in the frame and then jumped ahead 0-2 on the next hitter, but then suddenly lost control of the strike zone. He walked three straight Highlanders to load the bases and then uncorked a wild pitch on what was a third strike to Michael Anastasia, allowing NJIT to score.

Before anyone could blink, the Highlanders pounded out three straight hits, scoring five runs before Tyler Keller came on to get the fourth strikeout of the inning, and end the frame.

“We lost momentum when they put that five spot up, but we came right back and scored three the next inning to take the momentum back away from them,” Dunn said. “We knew we were going to need to swing the bats. If we can keep it up, it will give us a big boost going into the end of the season and, hopefully, into the post-season.”

The Hatters did answer the big inning for NJIT (17-27, 2-10) with three runs in the seventh, and then four more in the eighth.

Besides Fussell, Vance Vizcaino had three hits, including two doubles, drove in a pair of runs and scored a career-high five runs. Matt Morales, who played second base for the first time this year, had three hits and scored three times and Cory Reid and Kevin Fagan added three hits each. Kirk Sidwell had a pair of hits in the game and, like Fussell, drove in four runs. Reid, Morales and Will Mackenzie joined in the doubles parade for Stetson.

“We are looking for any spark we can get, especially for guys who have been scuffling,” Dunn said. “The old saying is that it looks like a line drive in the box score. The little bloop hit that Mackenzie got may be just what he needs to get going again.”

Jesse Uttendorfer and Justin Etts had two hits each to lead NJIT and Etts drove in three of the Highlanders' six runs.

With the win, and a loss by Florida Gulf Coast to USC Upstate, the Hatters have moved into a tie with the Eagles for fifth in the A-Sun race. Stetson will try to edge further up the league standings on Saturday when they face NJIT in the second game of the weekend series. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.