No amount of green was enough for the Stetson baseball team on Friday night at Melching Field as three errors turned into three unearned runs for visiting Fairfield in a 5-2 loss to the Stags on St. Patrick's Day.
 
Stetson fell to 7-13 on the year with the loss while Fairfield improved to 4-9.
 
The bad luck started for Stetson in the very first inning when the Stags came out swinging against Stetson starter Brooks Wilson (1-2). Three singles with the first four hitters of the game loaded the bases, but the bad luck came when Colton Lightner misplayed a potential double-play ground ball, allowing a run to score.
 
After Wilson got the second out of the inning with his second strikeout, the error bug struck again. Ben Rowdon's throw to first on a ground ball that would have been the final out of the frame was wild, allowing two more runners to score.
 
"They got a couple of hits early, and Brooks usually bears down," Hatters coach Steve Trimper said. "If you give up one run in a bases loaded situation like that, it is okay. When you throw an error or two on it, then there are three runs.
 
"We just aren't playing very good baseball. We need to have better at bats and we need to play better defense. We practiced extremely well yesterday, but we didn't apply it to the game today."
 
The Hatters battled back against Fairfield starter John Signore (1-2) with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
 
Mike Spooner led off the fourth with a hit, stole second and then scored on a two-out single by Kirk Sidwell. Austin Hale followed with a hit, but Signore came back to get Jorge Arenas on strikes to end the inning.
 
Rowdon got things going in the fifth with a leadoff double. After moving up on a ground ball, he was able to score on a bad-hop single by Colton Lightner.
 
"We produced those runs just like we wanted," Trimper said. "The theories that we are trying to instill about getting on, moving them over and then producing, work to produce runs, but then we had another error."
 
The third error came in the sixth inning with Fairfield holding to a 3-2 lead. A walk and a bunt single to start the frame put two runners on base. Another bunt toward third base was fielded cleanly by Arenas, but his throw to first was dropped by Rowdon, allowing a run to score. A sacrifice fly then scored another run for a 5-2 Fairfield lead.
 
The Hatters brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning after Charlie Watters delivered a pinch-hit single and Hale delivered his second hit of the game. Jack Perkins was called on to pinch hit with two out and Fairfield reliever Mike Bonaiuto, got him on strikes to end the game. The save was Bonaiuto's first of the year.
 
"I don't want us to lose our hustle and fight because I don't want us to get down," Trimper said. "You can't play the game and be successful like that. The guys just have to find a way to get out of this and find a way to win a series. These weekends are all about winning series, so we have to flush this one, come back tomorrow and play better than we did tonight."
 
Lightner, Sidwell and Hale had two hits each in the game for Stetson while Fairfield got to each from Drew Arciuolo and Kevin Radziewicz.
 
Game two of the weekend series is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.