On a night when the Stetson Hatters wanted to give a number of young pitchers an opportunity to earn their stripes, the visiting Army West Point team took advantage of control problems, defensive mistakes and general poor play to hand the Hatters an 8-4 loss at Melching Field.
 
The loss, the Hatters' second of the year against 14 wins, snapped Stetson's win streak at nine games. Army improved to 7-8 with the victory.
 
Overall, seven Stetson pitchers combined to walk 12 batters and hit five more. That was compounded by a costly error early in the game, two wild pitches and two passed balls.
 
The Black Knights got all the runs they needed in the second inning off Stetson starter Austin Bogart (0-1) scoring five times. Army got an infield hit to open the inning, and then a bunt hit when Bogart slipped down fielding the ball. Another sacrifice attempt followed, but an error on the play loaded the bases.
 
Bogart then hit a batter to force in a run before getting a fielder's choice for the first out. A sacrifice fly plated a second run before a walk reloaded the bases.
 
Sophomore Ryan Stark came on in relief and allowed three runs to score without giving up a hit by hitting another batter and walking two.
 
Army pitching made those runs stand up. Starter Daniel Burggraaf (1-0) worked five innings, allowing three runs on four hits with five strikeouts for the win. Carter Van Gytenbeek worked three solid innings, allowing a run in three hits, before Matt Ball came in to close out the game in the ninth.
 
The Hatters struggled at the top of the batting order, with the top five hitters in the order combining to go 1-for-21 on the night. Mike Spooner had the only hit from the top of the order, delivering an RBI single in the third to score Nico Torino.
 
Stetson closed to within 5-3 in the fourth inning, scoring a pair of runs on a single by Jonathan Meola, but Army came right back in the fifth inning, scoring three runs off reliever Austin Wood to put the game out of reach. The big hit in that inning was a two-run triple by Josh White that went right between Spooner in right and Jacob Koos in center as they crossed in the outfield.
 
The Hatters got their final run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Andrew MacNeil, but left the bases loaded in that inning. Overall, Stetson left nine runners on base in the game.
 
The two teams had just seven hits each in the game. Brooks Wilson, who made his first start at first base and made a couple of solid plays in the field, had three hits to lead the Hatters. Torino had two hits.
 
White led Army with three hits in the game, falling just a home run shy of the cycle. He drove in three and scored twice. Tim Simoes added a pair of hits for the Black Knights.
 
The Hatters will return to action on Friday night when they open a four-game series against Rhode Island at 6:30 p.m. The Rams (2-11) will square off against Army on Thursday afternoon at Melching Field. That game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

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.