Newark, NJ – Stetson used an eight-run fourth inning that included a three-run home run and an almost grand slam, to power past NJIT 11-3 on Sunday afternoon to complete the Hatters' first road sweep since 2012.

The sweep moves the Hatters (24-23, 8-7) into a tie with Lipscomb for fourth place in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings. The Hatters need any combination of two wins or two USC Upstate losses over the last two weeks of the season to clinch a berth in the A-Sun Championship Tournament.

The Highlanders fell to 17-29 overall, 2-12 in league play with the loss.

With the sun shining on Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium for the first time all weekend, the wind picked up for Sunday's game, blowing out to center field from 15 to 20 miles per hour all day.

That wind helped Stetson get out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning when John Fussell launched his second home run of the weekend, this one coming of NJIT starter Bryan Haberstroh (1-4).

“I didn't know if John hit it well enough when it left the bat, but when it got up into that jet stream, it just took off,” Hatters coach Pete Dunn said. “He had a great weekend here with a lot of family and friends out to watch him play. He is really hitting the ball well, which we will need him to do the rest of the way.”

The two-run shot was Fussell's fourth of the season, but was just the appetizer for the main course that was to come.

The Hatters put together their biggest offensive inning of the year in the fourth, with Austin Hale getting things started with a single and putting an exclamation point on the frame with a three-run home run, the first of his career. In between, Stetson got bases loaded RBI singles from both Vance Vizcaino and Matt Morales before Cory Reid launched what appeared to be a grand slam home run.

Reid blast turned into a three-run single when Morales, who did not see the ball leave the park, retreated to first base to tag up, running past Reid in the process. The base-running gaff turned a grand slam into a three-run single for Reid, and cost Stetson a run.

Fussell and Kirk Sidwell followed with singles before Hale blasted his three-run homer.

“We made some major base-running mistakes today which, if they had happened in a 1-0 game instead of a 10-0 game, would have gotten us beat,” Dunn said. “Once thing I can't stand is base-running mistakes because they are about concentration.”

The big inning gave Stetson sophomore Ben Onyshko (2-0) all the cushion he needed. The left-hander held NJIT to three hits over five innings while striking out a career-high eight. He did walk four batters in the game, which got him into trouble a couple of times.

“It is always a tightrope act with Ben,” Dunn said. “He struggled with command of his fastball today, and that caused him some trouble. His breaking ball was outstanding and helped him get out of jams because he was able to get them to swing at some pitches out of the zone.”

After Onyshko's five innings of work, the Hatters got two near-perfect innings from freshman left-hander Erik Wiebke before Joey Gonzalez came on to pitch the eighth. He struggled with his command, giving up three runs on two hits and two walks, with the help of the only error of the day.

“We were in a situation there where we were just counting outs, and we tried to do too much and make a play that we probably couldn't make,” Dunn said. “It didn't cost us a game today, but that is the kind of play that has hurt us this year.”

The Hatters added an unearned run in the ninth inning on a ground out by Dean Garabedian to account for the final run.

Morales, Reid, Fussell and Hale all had two hits in the game for Stetson, which finished with 12 hits in the game. Catcher Cody Kramer had two of the Highlanders' five hits on the day.

With a four-game win streak, including the first road series sweep since taking three games from ETSU in Johnson City, Tenn., in 2012, the Hatters will try to complete a perfect trip to New Jersey on Monday with a non-conference game at Monmouth.

The Hawks (25-21) dropped the final game of their weekend series to Iona on Sunday, but maintain a half game lead over Fairfield in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). The Hawks have been winning with strong pitching, having allowed just 13 total runs in their last eight games.

“We need to get a good outing on the mound from Adam Schaly tomorrow and find a way to score some runs against a very good team,” Dunn said. “We are swinging the bats pretty well right now and we need to keep the momentum going.”

The game at Monmouth's MU Field is scheduled for a noon start on Monday. There will be no video or audio coverage of the game, but live stats will be available at Stetsonstats.com and updates will be available on Twitter @StetsonBaseball.