After leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning in a 1-1 game on Friday night at Melching Field, Stetson freshman shortstop Jorge Arenas was not about to let visiting Florida Gulf Coast off the hook again in the 10^th.
 
Arenas drove a solid single through the left side of the No. 9 Eagles' drawn-in infield, scoring Mike Spooner from first to give Stetson a 2-1 win in the series opener.
 
The Hatters improved to a perfect 4-0 in ASUN play with the win, 14-18 overall, while dropping the suddenly slumping Eagles to 24-8 overall and, more importantly, 1-3 in league play. FGCU, which has won 10 straight games twice this year, has now lost five in a row.
 
"My teammates really set me up for success in the 10^th inning by getting on base," Arenas said. "I was just looking for a ball up that I could see it and get it into the outfield."
 
The winning hit for the Hatters came after Spooner led off the inning with a single just off the glove of FGCU second baseman Jake Smith. Jake Gonzalez followed with a solid hit to right center to put runners on the corners. FGCU junior Kenton Herring (4-3) walked Austin Bogart intentionally to get to Arenas.
 
Hatters coach Steve Trimper said he had a simple message to his young shortstop.
 
"Get a hit," Trimper said. "I wanted to make sure he had a good approach, and we practice that situation during our (battling practice) every day. I told him to not worry about doing it on the first or second pitch. He was in a situation where he could go deep in the count. It was great to get Spooner and Jack on in the 10^th because it forced them into a very tough situation."
 
Stetson senior reliever Tyler Keller (1-2) earned the victory after working the final 1.2 innings in relief of starter Brooks Wilson. It was just the second win in Keller's 93 total career relief appearances.
 
The two opposing starting pitchers dominated for much of the night. Stetson's Wilson worked eight innings, allowing just one run on seven hits with six strikeouts. FGCU junior starter Kutter Crawford worked into the seventh, allowing just the one run on five hits with three walks and just one strikeout.
 
"It was a well-played ball game by both teams with outstanding pitching," Trimper said. "It was conference baseball on Friday. You tip your hat to Florida Gulf Coast because it was a very competitive game, and was back and forth all night."
 
The six strikeouts for Wilson equaled the fewest he has had in a start all year. He now has 78 on the season, which, for the moment at least, moved him into a tie for the NCAA lead with Houston's Seth Romero.
 
"Brooks is a strikeout pitcher, but that team didn't strike out much tonight," Trimper said. "They did a good job of battling against him. I know their approach was to try to be aggressive early in the count because they didn't want to get to two strikes. I think that helped Brooks go deeper into the game.
 
"Brooks did a tremendous job, but so did Tyler Keller. He got both lefties and righties out and got us out of a jam."
 
For Wilson, the only downside of the night was that he wasn't able to get the win, but he wasn't overly concerned with that after the game was over. He lost the opportunity for the decision in the eighth inning when FGCU senior Nick Rivera dropped a two-out single in front of Bogart in left, scoring Gage Morey with the tying run.
 
"I was focused on locating my fastball and getting ground ball outs tonight," Wilson said. "Rivera got a slider that didn't have the movement that I was looking for. It wasn't a bad pitch, but he got enough of the bat on it to drop it into left for a hit."
 
Trimper said that, even though FGCU tied the game on the play, Bogart made a smart decision to play the Rivera ball conservatively.
 
"It was a smart play because if he dives for that ball, and it gets by him, then we are looking at losing the game because they score two," Trimper said. "He is a good outfielder and played it correctly because there could have been a lot of risk if he had gone after it."
 
The Hatters broke up a scoreless game in the fourth inning when Andrew MacNeil singled to open the frame, moved up to second on the first of two balks by FGCU pitchers and then scored on a Bogart single through the left side.
 
"We played really hard tonight," Trimper said. "Jorge had a hustle double and so did Colton Lightner. Those are the kinds of things you have to do with win these types of games.
 
"We have a lot left in the tank in the bullpen for tomorrow, so we are going to try to go out and win a series at home. We are very fortunate and are playing well, but there is a long way to go. Gulf Coast is a very good team, but we played pretty well tonight."
 
Gonzalez and Arenas had two hits each to lead Stetson while Julio Gonzalez and Rivera had two each to lead the Eagles.
 
Game two of the series is set for Saturday afternoon, with the first pitch scheduled for 2 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.