Jacksonville, Fla. – For eight innings on Sunday afternoon at Sessions Stadium the Stetson baseball team had no answer for the Jacksonville pitching combination of Chris Gau and Matt Myers.
 
In the ninth inning, the Hatters found the solution they had been looking for and scored three times to take a 3-1 victory over the Dolphins and move to within on game of JU and North Florida in the race for the 2017 ASUN Baseball title.
 
Stetson improved to 22-26 overall and 10-5 in ASUN play with the win while JU fell to 27-20 overall and 11-4 in the league.
 
"It was a battle out there, much like on Friday night with a good pitchers dual," Hatters coach Steve Trimper said. "We had opportunities in the game to score runners from third base twice earlier in the game, but didn't get it done. The way baseball games, we got it done with two outs in the ninth on a close play at first base."
 
With one out in the ninth and the Hatters trailing 1-0, Jorge Arenas and Kirk Sidwell delivered consecutive singles. Senior Colton Lightner then delivered the game tying run, scoring Arenas, with a single to left and advanced to second on the throw home.
 
After Brooks Wilson was retired on a foul pop, Jacob Koos came to the plate to face JU closer Spencer Stockton. Koos hit a high-chopper to first base and beat Stockton to the base for hit. Both Andrew MacNeil and Lightner scored on the play when JU left home plate unmanned.
 
"That is what baseball is all about," Trimper said of Lightner's RBI in the ninth. "You always have a chance to get up there and get the big RBI, and it doesn't matter what you did in the at bats before. That is the mindset these guys have and that was a great hit for us."
 
Koos, who extended his hit streak to 15 games in the first inning, was held without a hit through the middle innings only to come through late.
 
"When you hustle, sometimes things go your way," Koos said. "They had our timing off all day and were making good pitches, but we had them right where we wanted them in the ninth. We never got down because we knew we had it in us to come back."
 
Prior to the Hatters' rally in the ninth inning, the only run in the game came in the fourth inning when Sam Armstong hit a solo homer off Hatters starter Ryan Stark, who made an emergency start when scheduled starter Logan Gilbert fell ill during pregame warmups.
 
"Before the game even started we had to switch our starter because Logan had a little big of an upset stomach," Trimper said. "We didn't know if he would be able to pitch at all, but he laid down for a little bit and felt better. We put him out there after Starky pitched well for four innings and Logan shut them down. It was a little bit of a reverse close today."
 
Stark allowed that one run on three hits in his four innings of work before turning the game over to Gilbert (8-0), who blanked the Dolphins over the final five frames. Gilbert had just four strikeouts in his five innings, but two came against the final two hitters in the ninth to close out the win.
 
"We are building some momentum and playing better baseball," Trimper said. "The players are doing exactly what I am asking them to do. They are coming to work every day and trying to get a little better. Everything is clicking right now and now we have a chance to try to win this thing."
 
The Hatters will play their final home series of the season next weekend when they host North Florida in a three game series. The games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday with Sunday's series finale set for 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.