New Orleans, La. – After scoring seven runs in the first inning and getting a masterful pitching performance from sophomore Logan Gilbert over 4.2 innings, the Stetson Hatters had to hang on for dear life on Sunday, outlasting Tulane 12-10 to take the weekend series from the Green Wave.
 
Stetson improved to 10-16 on the season with the win while dropping Tulane to 9-15. The 12 runs for the Hatters were a season-high.
 
"Any time you can go on the road and win a series it is a special thing for a team," Hatters coach Steve Trimper said. "Last night, we played our cleanest game of the year but, today, the wind was blowing out a little and I knew it might be a little bit of a slugfest. Logan went out and shut it down early, but when they started to make a comeback, our team showed a ton of fight and that is the thing I am really pleased about. Even when Tulane scored four runs, we came right back to score one or two. That fight is something we can build on."
 
The Hatters exploded out of the gate against the Green Wave, sending 10 batters to the plate in the first inning against a pair of Tulane pitchers. Mike Spooner, Jack Gonzalez, Jorge Arenas and Ben Rowdon all had run-scoring hits in the inning.
 
That looked to be all Gilbert would need as he went to the mound with guns blazing. He struck out the side in both the first and second innings, but also surrendered a double in the first and a solo home run to Grant Brown in the second. The strikeouts continued to pile up for Gilbert, with two in the third, one in the fourth and two in the fifth before Tulane came roaring back.
 
"Logan was absolutely dominant early," Trimper said. "He had a good fastball and slider and was keeping them off balance. I think he wore down a little quicker today because, speaking from experience of being out in that third base coaches box, it was 15 to 20 degrees warmer on that turf. Logan was at his 80^th pitch when he started to lose his command and his velocity and, on that turf, that was probably like his 120^th pitch.
 
"With the Hatters leading 9-1 after scoring single runs in the third and fifth innings, Tulane got three straight two-out doubles from Grant Witherspoon, Sal Gozzo and Hunter Williams to push four runs across the board, cutting the Stetson lead to 9-5.
 
Stetson continued to apply pressure with the bats, scoring a pair of runs in the seventh inning, one on a balk and the second on a two-out single by Austin Hale. Those runs proved to be crucial in the bottom of the inning.
 
"I told them they had to keep the pedal down," Trimper said. "I told them that I wanted them to play like it was a 1-0 game. Offensively, we swung the bats well. We are making those little improvements. It is nice to see some of those younger guys who were in the lineup getting better."
 
The Hatters turned to freshman Ryan Stark in relief of Gilbert for the frame and, after allowing a one-out walk, he surrendered a two-run home run to Witherspoon. Williams then reached on a two-out single before Lex Kaplan blasted the second two-run homer of the inning to get the Green Wave to within 11-9.
 
Following Kaplan's blast, emotions started to boil over as players from both dugouts began yelling at each other with the four-man umpire crew having to step in to settle things down.
 
"Their kid hit a home run on a good pitch and he jogged a little slow around the bases," Trimper said. "That is college baseball. I saw our guys get a little fight in them and I told them to make sure they took the fight to them on the field. I liked our emotion, and it was a great opportunity for us to show our fight."
 
One of the most vocal players from the Stetson dugout following Kaplan's home run was sophomore Jack Gonzalez. As luck would have it, he led off the Hatters' eighth by launching a solo homer of his own, pushing the Stetson lead back to three at 12-9.
 
"I think that home run was the play of the game," Trimper said. "He just went up there and put a good swing on the ball. That one run really knocked them down. Being in the third base coaches box, I could hear their dugout go silent after that, and I knew we had them."
 
Joey Gonzalez came out of the Stetson pen for the eighth inning and quieted things with the help of an inning-ending double play. A walk and an error in the ninth allowed Tulane to push a run across on a sacrifice fly, but Gonzalez got Kaplan to ground out to end the game, earning his third save of the year.
 
Gilbert improved to 4-0 with the win, posting a career-high 12 strikeouts in his six innings of work. He did allow five runs on six hits. Tulane starter Ross Massey fell to 0-4 on the year without retiring a single batter. He allowed five runs on two hits with a walk and two hit batters.
 
The star of the game offensively for Stetson was Rowdon. The freshman had four hits in the game and drove in four runs. Gonzalez had three hits, drove in two and scored two. Austin Bogart and Arenas also had two hits each for Stetson.
 
Hunter Williams led Tulane with three hits, including a pair of doubles. Witherspoon had two hits and drove in three runs and Kody Hoese added two hits.
 
"There was a lot of progress this weekend," Trimper said. "We are playing guys who didn't have a ton of at bats last year. I have told them that, as things keep going and they continue to buy into our philosophies, we are going to continue to get better as the weeks go on."
 
With two wins in New Orleans under their belts, the Hatters will play their final tune-up game before the start of ASUN play on Tuesday night when they travel to Tampa to take on the red-hot Bulls of USF. The Bulls are 22-3 on the year, but dropped a pair of one-run games last week, one to FGCU and the other to Florida A&M.
 
The game on Tuesday from USF Stadium is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start and will be broadcast on the Hatters Radio Network.

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.