The Stetson Hatters didn't do anything flashy on Wednesday night at Melching Field, but they did take care of business, closing out a season-opening 21-game home stand with a 5-3 victory over FIU.
 
The Hatters, ranked 26^th this week in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, improved to 18-3 on the year while dropping the Panthers to 10-13 on the year.
 
Stetson got four solid innings of work on the mound from senior left-hander Ben Onyshko in his first start of the year. He allowed one earned run, as well as one unearned, on three hits with five strikeouts before turning the ball over to junior Joey Gonzalez (5-1). Gonzalez retired nine of the 10 hitters he faced over three innings to get the win.
 
Senior Brooks Wilson worked the final two frames to earn his ninth save of the year. The Panthers were able to spoil his perfect season, however, scoring a run on a walk and two hits in the ninth before Wilson struck out the final two batters to close out the game.
 
With three strikeouts in the game, Wilson now has 271 in his career.
 
After allowing a run in the first inning on a walk, a single, a sacrifice bunt and a sac fly, the Hatters answered in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own. Jacob Koos led off the game with a double and, after Baylen Sparks reached on an infield hit, Koos scored on a sacrifice fly by Jorge Arenas to tie the game.
 
FIU scored an unearned run in the second on a Stetson error, but the Hatters took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the third off Panthers' starter Andrew George (0-1). Sparks reached on his second hit of the night and Arenas followed with a walk. Wilson then singled in Sparks to tie the game before a Mike Spooner ground out scored Arenas for a 3-2 Stetson lead.
 
The Hatters added a run in the fourth when Jonathan Meola scored on a wild pitch, but left the bases loaded in that frame, three of the nine runners Stetson left on base on the night.
 
The final Stetson run came in the fifth thanks to a pair of FIU errors. Spooner walked to open the frame and moved up to second on a dropped pop up just beyond the infield. Spooner then stole third and scored when the throw from the FIU catcher went down the left field line.
 
The Hatters managed just seven hits in the game, with two coming from both Sparks and Meola. Juan Teixeira had two of the six hits on the night for FIU.
 
Stetson will now head out onto the road for the first time for a three-game series at the University of Maryland this weekend. The Terrapins took an 11-3 victory over Elon on Wednesday night to improve to 10-11 on the season.
 
The Hatters will face adverse conditions when they get to College Park on Thursday after the area received in excess of a foot of snow on Wednesday as part of the same storm system that brought thunderstorms to central Florida on Monday and Tuesday.
 
The games at Maryland are scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday with all three games scheduled to be streamed on the Maryland Baseball Network, which is a subscription service.
 
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.