College Park, Md. – For the second straight day, the Stetson bats were as cold as the weather at Maryland's Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium as the Hatters were blanked 2-0 in the series finale by the Terrapins.
Stetson (19-5) managed just two hits against Maryland junior right-hander Hunter Parsons (3-2), who didn't allow a walk and struck out nine in the complete game performance that took just one hour and 52 minutes to complete.
Hatters sophomore left-hander
Mitchell Senger (3-1) was almost equal to the task, allowing just one earned run on five hits, three of which never left the infield. He walked three and struck out 10 in his complete game effort.
Maryland (12-12) scored all the runs it would need in the fifth inning after Richie Schiekofer reached on a one-out infield single. Senger briefly lost the strike zone at that point, walking a pair of hitters to load the bases with two out. Schiekofer came in to score on a passed ball which would have made the run unearned, but Senger hit Nick Dunn with a pitch to reload the bases and make the run earned.
The tall Hatter lefty regained his composure to strikeout Marty Costes, the Terrapins' best hitter, to end the inning, but the damage was done.
Maryland added a second run in the sixth after Kevin Biondic led off with an infield hit and moved to second on a dropped fly ball for an error. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, Senger got a ground ball to second against a drawn in infield, but
Bruce Martin's throw home was off line, allowing Biondic to slide home safely.
The Hatters managed just three base runners all day against the Maryland sinker-ball pitcher, and none advanced past first base.
Mike Spooner singled in the fourth,
Jorge Arenas singled in the fifth and
Andrew MacNeil was hit by a pitch in the seventh. Overall the Hatters hit into 13 ground ball outs in the game.
Stetson will try to bounce back on Tuesday night when the Hatters travel down I-4 for a game against South Florida (18-7) for the first of two meetings this year with the Bulls.
That game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start.
The Hatters will return to Melching Field on Thursday night to open a three-game series against Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman. All three games in that series are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. starts.
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.
