Orlando, Fla. – The Stetson Hatters an UCF Knights played on Wednesday night at the UCF Baseball Complex like two teams that had something else on their minds.
 
The result was a 5-3 UCF victory in a game that had just 13 total hits. The win was the 12^th straight in the series for UCF going back to 2007. The teams had not met since the 2012 season.
 
The Hatters fell to 13-18 on the year with the loss while UCF improved to 23-7.
 
Of course, Stetson has a home series against in-state ASUN rival Florida Gulf Coast starting on Friday at Melching Field while the Knights will travel south on I-4 for an American Athletic Conference series against South Florida.
 
UCF broke on top early when catcher Logan Heiser followed Matthew Mika's one-out single in the second inning with a line drive home run to left off Stetson freshman Austin Bogart (0-3). It was Heiser's third of the year.
 
The Knights doubled their advantage in the third, getting doubles from Luke Hamblin and Eli Putman to score one run, followed by a bunt single from Kyle Marsh with a throwing error.
 
While Bogart was allowing those four runs on five hits, UCF starter Thaddeus Ward (3-0) blanked the Hatters over his three innings on the mound. It was the sophomore's first start of the year and he allowed just one hit in his three innings of work.
 
Following Ward, UCF used five other pitchers in the game, all but one for one inning of work each.
 
After three quiet frames, the Knights added an insurance run off Stetson sophomore Jack Perkins in the seventh inning. Putnam struck for his second run-scoring double of the night to make it 5-0 UCF.
 
The Hatters scored their only run in the seventh inning when Colton Lightner blasted a solo home run to left off Chris Williams. It was the first home run of the year for Lightner.
 
Stetson had two more hits in the inning off Williams, but left those runners stranded on base.
 
The Hatters showed life in the ninth inning when Jorge Arenas reached on a two-out single off sophomore left-hander Bryce Tucker. Austin Hale followed with a two-run homer to close the gap to 5-3, but Stetson was unable to mount any further rally.
 
The Hatters will be back at Melching Field on Friday night to open a three-game ASUN series against Florida Gulf Coast. Friday's game has been designated as the Pink Game with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday's game will be the annual strike out Autism Game, with first pitch set for 2 p.m. The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.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.