Despite all of the battling, the struggling to come from behind, the clawing to stay in the game, it was a four-pitch walk to the leadoff hitter in the 11^th inning on Tuesday night that proved to be the ultimate undoing for the Hatters in a 9-8 loss to the 11^th ranked Florida Gators.
 
The pain from that walk, which went to Florida freshman relief pitcher Kirby McMullen, was intensified by the fact that it was McMullen's first plate appearance of the year.
 
Stetson killer JJ Schwarz followed with a single to right before a sacrifice bunt moved both runners up a base. An intentional walk then loaded the bases for Christian Hicks, who hit a high chopper to first base, allowing McMullen to score what turned out to be the winning run.
 
He then went to mound in the bottom of the inning and retired the Hatters in order to close out the win for Florida, which improved to 14-8 on the year. The Hatters fell to 8-15 with the loss.
 
"I am extremely proud of the team because we were aggressive offensively and we ran the bases well," Stetson coach Steve Trimper said. "With that said, it doesn't matter if you are playing Florida or Fairfield or Maine, teams from all ends of the country, if you don't do the little things you are going to set yourself back."
 
The little things for the Hatters included not getting bunts down to get runners over, not finding a way to put the bat on the ball with runners in scoring position and not making all the plays on defense.
 
"We missed a bunt in the first inning that could have led to something and another later on," Trimper said. "Not getting guys in from third base, and not walking the leadoff guy, it is the little things that we have to get better at in order to be successful.
 
"I don't want to take away from the things we got from this game – the positivity and competitiveness. I want the Stetson Hatters to have the effort, the energy and the attitude that we had tonight every day. We have to be able to bring that energy every day."
 
The Hatters got off to a quick start in the game, scoring in the first inning off Florida starter Nate Brown on a single to right by Austin Bogart, scoring Mike Spooner.
 
That 1-0 lead stood up for Stetson starter Joey Gonzalez until there were two out in the fifth inning. At that point, a pair of walks turned into a four-run frame for the Gators. It was Schwarz who broke the ice with a two-run single. Jonathan India and Nelson Maldonado followed with RBI hits for a 4-1 Florida lead.
 
"All of that happened with two outs and that has been a killer for us," Trimper said. "You have to find a way to finish the inning. The big hit in the inning was on an 0-2 pitch right down the middle. You have to be able to execute that pitch."
 
Gonzalez finished his night with a career-high eight strikeouts while allowing four runs on seven hits through 4.2 innings of work.
 
Stetson got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fifth when Koos, Colton Lightner and Spooner put together consecutive hits off Nick Horvath, the second of seven Florida pitchers in the game.
 
While the Hatters tried to fight their way back, freshman Ryan Stark kept the Gators at bay. He pitched four flawless innings, allowing just one hit.
 
Stetson took advantage of the good work from Stark, scoring twice in the eighth inning to tie the game at four. Bogart doubled home Jack Gonzalez, who had reached on a one-out single, and then scored on a Kirk Sidwell single. Austin Hale followed with a double to move the go-ahead run to third base with one out.
 
Florida called on Tyler Dyson to pitch, and Jorge Arenas welcomed him with a chopper to second base. Florida's Deacon Liput came home with the throw and got the call at the plate. Video showed that Sidwell slid in under the tag, but the Hatters ended the inning with a tie game.
 
"It is what it is, and you can't go back and change it," Trimper said. "The umpire said he was in there, but that he saw daylight between his foot and the plate. That is great eyes, but I thought he got in there. We did a good job of being aggressive on that play, but it didn't go our way."
 
It was Stark who ran into trouble in the 10^th inning. A pair of chop hits for Florida was followed by an error on a sacrifice bunt attempt to load the bases with no one out. Stetson turned to junior Ben Onyshko (1-3) from the pen, and he surrendered a pinch-hit single to Mark Kolozsvary, scoring a pair of runs.
 
After a walk reloaded the bases, Mike Rivera hit another chopper just off the top of the glove of Jorge Arenas at third base, allowing two more Gators to score for an 8-4 Florida lead.
 
The Hatters came right back in the home half of the inning, putting together six hits against four Florida hurlers to tie the game again. Sidwell and Hale opened the inning with hits off Dyson. Garrett Milchin came in and surrendered an RBI double to Arenas.
 
After the first out of the inning, Koos greeted Andrew Baker with an RBI single. Following the second out of the inning, Spooner and Gonzalez both delivered two-out RBI singles to knot the game at 8-8.
 
"It was an up and down game, and the positives outweigh the negatives," Trimper said. "We lost to Florida tonight because we didn't execute the little things. That is no disrespect to Florida because they have a tremendous program and I want us to play these kinds of games all the time."
 
The 20 hits for Stetson in the game were the most for the Hatters since a 29-hit performance against USC Upstate on May 16, 2014. Koos led the way for the Hatters with four hits in the game while Spooner, Gonzalez, Sidwell and Hale all had three hits each.
 
The Stetson pitchers also combined for a season-high 16 strikeouts, the most since a 17-strikeout performance against Central Michigan on February 21, 2015.
 
Florida had 13 hits in the game, led by Schwarz with three. Dalton Guthrie, India and Rivera had two hits each for the Gators.
 
The Hatters will try to build off the good from Tuesday night when they open a three game series in New Orleans this weekend against Tulane. The Green Wave (7-13) defeated McNeese State on Tuesday and has a makeup game at Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday before hosting Stetson.
 
Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 7 pm first pitch.
 
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.