After one week of play in the ASUN Conference, the Stetson baseball team finds itself alone in first place following the Hatters' 4-2 victory over NJIT to complete a sweep of the Highlanders to start the season.
 
But Stetson coach Steve Trimper said his focus is on seeing improvement from his team that will have it playing its best baseball at the end of the year.
 
"I know a victory is a victory, and sometimes you win ugly," Trimper said of Sunday's game. "I get frustrated because I want to see the team continue to improve every day. I know we are going to take steps back. Today, we were out of control at times on defense, our physical and mental play was out of control.
 
"Offensively, we did things to get guys on base and, when we steal six bases, we need to score more than four runs. We left 12 guys on base today. We need to put the ball in play to put pressure on the defense. We need to get some two-out RBI hits. Those are the kinds of things we need to be able to do if we are going to be successful down the road."
 
The sweep for Stetson was the first in a series since sweeping NJIT in Newark last May. The Hatters improved to 13-17 overall with the win while NJIT fell to 3-21.
 
The Hatters won despite making three errors on defense, having a couple of other balls that went for hits that should have been outs and missing out on multiple opportunities to score more runs as a result of poor at bats.
 
"We are capable of doing all those things that we need to do," Trimper said. "I told the guys that if they weren't capable of those things, then I wouldn't even talk about it. But, I expect them to be better at those situations for Stetson baseball to be where it needs to be.
 
"I told them before the game that I was going to be reading their competitiveness today, and that means taking pitches in the dirt, getting the two-out RBI and not striking out with runners in scoring position. I want guys who want to hit with the bases loaded and one out. Those are the things we have to continue to work on."
 
Stetson took advantage of an error in the first inning by catcher Cody Kramer, whose throw to first base on a strikeout of Jack Gonzalez by NJIT starting pitcher Tyler Stafflinger (1-3) sailed down the right field line, allowing Mike Spooner, who had singled, to score all the way from first.
 
Singles by Ben Rowdon and Jacob Koos set the stage for Spooner to deliver in the third inning, with his single plating both runners for a 3-0 Stetson lead. Both Gonzalez in the first and Spooner in the third were left stranded in scoring position at the end of the inning.
 
Stetson pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fifth when, after reliever Brent Jones walked Koos and Andrew MacNeil to start the frame, Gonzalez was able to deliver a sacrifice fly to score Koos after he and MacNeil pulled a double steal. Both MacNeil and Jorge Arenas, who was hit by a pitch and stole second, were left in scoring position in that inning.
 
The Highlanders got to Stetson starter Logan Gilbert (5-0) in the sixth inning by taking advantage of two Hatters errors. Jesse Uttendorfer reached to start the frame on an error by Ben Rowdon at second. He stole second and moved up to third on a single by Johnny Malatesta before scoring when Gilbert's pickoff attempt on Malatesta was wild. A single by Matthew Cocciadiferro drove in the second run of the inning.
 
Gilbert allowed just those two unearned runs on six hits over six innings without walking anyone. He struck out six.
 
"Logan has been nursing a sore back for the last two weeks and we were only planning to get five innings from him today," Trimper said. "It isn't anything major, just some tightness in his back. In the first inning, I thought the sore back was helping him a little to keep the ball down in the zone because he wasn't trying to do too much. Later he got up the zone and he found some barrels."
 
Freshman Austin Bogart, senior Tyler Keller and sophomore Joey Gonzalez combined to cover the final three innings of the game, with Gonzalez earning his fifth save, and second in as many days.
 
The Hatters were out-hit on the day by NJIT 10-7 with Malatesta leading the way for the Highlanders with three hits. Koos and Spooner had two hits apiece to lead Stetson.
 
The Hatters will enter what will be the most challenging two-week stretch of the year this week with road games against nationally-ranked Florida (20-9) on Tuesday and UCF (22-7) on Wednesday before returning home next weekend to host No. 9 Florida Gulf Coast (24-5), who lost a pair of extra-inning games at home this weekend against Jacksonville.
 
That will be followed the week of Easter with a home game against USF (24-5) and a home series against Kennesaw State.
 
"We have a very tough stretch of games coming up over the next two weeks with non-conference and conference games," Trimper said. "If we played like we did today, we are not going to be able to come out on top against the teams we will see.
 
"This week is where you separate the men from the boys. There is no margin for error, either mentally or physically. I told them that they are going to learn a lot about themselves as players, and this group as a team, when you play quality teams that we play this week."
 
Tuesday's game in Gainesville is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start as is Wednesday's game in Orlando.
 
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.