The Stetson Hatters missed out on a golden opportunity in the first inning Saturday night at Melching Field – they just didn't know how big the opportunity was until later in the game against Connecticut on the second day of the Westin Lake Mary Stetson Invitational.
That first inning opportunity proved to be the Hatters' only major scoring chance against the Huskies, who took a 9-3 victory over Stetson.
Western Michigan moved to 2-0 in the tournament in the early game on Saturday, topping Saint Joseph's 9-2.
The Hatters (5-6) scored twice in the first against UConn right-hander Willis Montgomerie (3-0) and had two more runners on base before the junior settled in. He bounced back to strike out the side in the frame, preventing Stetson from capitalizing further on his shaky start.
"We thought we had them early in the game," Hatters coach
Steve Trimper said. "He got out of the first inning, but had a pitch count of 33. We went into the second inning with a plan to drive that up and, hopefully, get him out of the game by the fourth.
"We knew going in that he is a very good pitcher, one of the best in the northeast, but he dialed in up a notch after that first inning. We let him settle in. We were trying to see the ball up and lay off that hard slider in the dirt."
Montgomerie never gave the Hatters any room to breathe the rest of the way as he continue to pile up strikeouts. He came into the game with 22 Ks in his first two starts of the year, including 13 last week at Texas, but did that one better on Saturday with 14 strikeouts in his six innings of work.
Two relievers for the Huskies – CJ Dandeneau and John Russell – picked up where Montgomerie left off, picking up six more strikeouts over the final three innings. The 20 total Ks in the game for the Hatters set a new school record.
"I don't have a lot of words of wisdom after we play like that," Trimper said. "Twenty punch-outs is just not going to get it done in any league. Then when you make those kinds of errors on top of it. When we don't make errors and put the ball in play, we win games or are in games. We just aren't winning the last three innings of games."
The old mark of 19 strikeouts came on May 2, 2008, against Florida Gulf Coast in a game that lasted 12 innings. Chris Sale got the win in that game, working 3.2 innings of relief while recording five strikeouts, but it was FGCU starter Richard Bleier who did most of the damage with 13 Ks in his seven innings.
While the Hatters were struggling to generate offense on Saturday, the Huskies (5-4) were taking advantage of some sloppy defense and walks. After Stetson starter
Jack Perkins (0-2) retired the UConn lineup in order through the first three innings, the Huskies plated three runs in the fourth.
Aaron Hill singled to open the inning and moved up on a wild pitch. After Zac Susi drew a one-out walk, Isaac Feldstien doubled to drive Hill home. Tyler Gnesda then delivered a two-run single to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead.
Perkins continued to battle on the mound for Stetson until the seventh inning when UConn took advantage of an error and three walks to chase him from the game and score two more runs.
"It was still a tight game when we went to the seventh inning and then the flood gates opened up," Trimper said. "We made an error and we couldn't make the big pitch. Again, it was the seventh, eighth and ninth inning that is killing us. They scored six runs in those last three innings."
The Hatters got a run back in the eighth when
Austin Bogart, who reached base four times in the game with a hit and three walks, drew a base on balls, moved up when
Andrew MacNeil was hit by a pitch and then on an errant pickoff throw by Dandeneau. After a pitching change, Bogart scored on a wild pitch by Russell.
The Huskies extinguished any hope of a Stetson rally by scoring four times in the ninth inning. UConn had four singles in that frame off freshman reliever
Ryan Stark and got help from a hit batter and the last of four Hatters errors in the game.
While the bottom of the Stetson batting order really struggled in the game – the No. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9 spots in the order were 0-for-19 with 18Ks – the Hatters did have some bright spots offensively. Leadoff hitter
Jacob Koos had three hits and scored a run,
Mike Spooner had two hits and drove in one and Bogart reached base all four times he came to the plate.
"Nothing went well for us tonight," Trimper said. "That doesn't mean that I think our players who had terrible nights are terrible players. It was just a bad night, and that happens in baseball. If you are an everyday starter, you are going to have a bad night. What I want to see is how they deal with it and come back tomorrow. They can't come back in here with their heads down, they have to have the attitude that it was a bad night and it won't happen again."
The Huskies were led offensively by Gnesda, who had two hits and drove in three runs. Keith Krueger had two hits for UConn, scored a run and drove in another.
The Hatters will try to earn a share of the tournament title on Sunday when they face Western Michigan at 3 p.m. Connecticut will take on Saint Joseph's in the first game of the day, with the first pitch slated for 11 a.m.
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.
