For eight innings on Sunday afternoon at Melching Field, the Stetson Hatters and Western Michigan Broncos waged a battle of attrition, with both waiting for the other to blink.
 
Turns out, it was the Hatters who blinked first, giving up four runs in the top of the ninth inning in the most frustrating of manners before dropping a 5-3 decision to the Broncos in the final game of the Westin Lake Mary Stetson Invitational.
 
Western Michigan (5-5) went a perfect 3-0 in the tournament. Connecticut, which defeated Saint Joseph's 11-0 in the early game on Sunday, went 2-1 while the Hatters (5-7) finished the weekend with a 1-2 mark.
 
"I don't want to say it was like Groundhog Day but, like yesterday, we have to learn not to shoot ourselves in the foot in the last three innings of games," Hatters coach Steve Trimper said. "Our club just needs to do the things they are capable of doing. They have to execute the plays we have the confidence they can execute."
 
The Broncos opened the ninth inning of a tie game with a bunt single by catcher Alex Goodwin against Stetson senior reliever Tyler Keller (0-2). They followed with a sacrifice bunt off sophomore Joey Gonzalez to move Goodwin into scoring position.
 
Nate Grys then hit a slow ground ball up the middle that Stetson freshman Ben Rowdon was unable to field cleanly, moving Goodwin to third base. The Broncos then executed a squeeze play, with pinch hitter Tyler Frank getting the bunt down. Gonzalez fielded the bunt and tried to flip the ball to catcher Austin Hale with his glove, but the flip was high, allowing Goodwin to slide in with the go-ahead run.
 
Without the error, that likely would have been the only run in the inning, but after getting a strikeout for the second out, Gonzalez surrendered a walk, a two-run single up the middle by Connor Smith and another run-scoring hit off the bat of Grant Miller.
 
By the time Gonzalez got out of the inning, nine Broncos had come to the plate and four runs had turned a 1-1 game into a 5-1 Western Michigan lead.
 
"I always like to look at the positive, and I have never questioned our fight, our work ethic, our practice time, but we are doing a lot of quantity stuff right now and not a lot of quality stuff," Trimper said. "Every day is a learning opportunity. We have to become a better offensive club and we have to execute pitches and defensive plays late in the game."
 
Even after giving up four runs in the top of the ninth, the Hatters battled back. Jorge Arenas delivered a one-our RBI double in the bottom of the inning to score Jack Gonzalez, who reached on an error to start the frame. One out later, Colton Lightner was hit by a pitch and Austin Hale followed up with a bad-hop single up the middle to drive home Arenas and bring the potential winning run to the plate.
 
WMU reliever Jake Bartels (1-0), who worked the final two innings in relief of Broncos starter Jack Szott, got Jacob Koos to hit a fly ball to end the Hatters threat.
 
Szott, who made his first start of the year after two shaky relief appearances, held Stetson to just one run on five hits over seven innings of work. He walked two and struck out three.
 
"It is very important for this team to begin developing an offensive identity," Trimper said. "Right now, we are struggling with that. We are struggling with getting bunts down, with reading balls in the dirt, with strikeouts on pitches outside the zone.
 
"We want to be aggressive on fastballs, but we have been aggressive on balls that are everywhere. You can't be aggressive on balls that are bouncing on the plate. We have to continue to work to get these guys to buy into being a better offensive club."
 
Like Szott, Stetson starter Logan Gilbert turned in a strong performance on the mound. He also allowed one run on five hits over seven innings, walking two while posting six strikeouts.
 
"I think Logan commanded his fastball better, but he still didn't have his best breaking ball today," Trimper said. "But, when you look at the results, he only gave up one run. He keeps us in games and is pitching well enough to win games. He just needs to keep doing what he is doing and we have to find a way to get a couple more runs across the plate for him."
 
It was WMU that got on the board first, on an RBI single by Tanner Allison in the sixth inning. The Hatters got that run right back in the bottom of the frame when Mike Spooner singled home Koos, who had opened the inning with a hit.
 
Stetson had just seven hits in the game, with two of those coming from Lightner, their senior captain. Lightner bounced right back after what could go down as the worst game of his career on Saturday. He struck out four times in that outing and had a career-high three errors.
 
"The first ball of the game was hit to him, and that is how it works," Trimper said of his shortstop. "Everyone has a bad day, but he came back out today and tried to lead us again. If you are going to be an every day player, you are going to have some bad days, and some great days."
 
Goodwin led WMU, which had just eight hits, with two.
 
The Hatters will take the day off on Monday before getting right back to work on Tuesday night when Seton Hall (4-6) visits for a two-game mid-week series. Tuesday's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start. Wednesday's game is also scheduled for a 6:30 first pitch, but that game will likely be moved to earlier in the day to allow Stetson's fans, and the Hatters team, to attend the Stetson women's basketball game Wednesday night.
 
"There are good things coming for this team, we just have to figure some things out – we can't just talk about it, we have to do it," Trimper said.
 
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.