The Stetson baseball team has been trying to find its stroke at the plate since the start of the spring season. On Sunday, the Hatters broke out their hitting shoes at the perfect time, banging out 13 hits in an 11-6 victory over Purdue.
 
The win gave Stetson (9-1) a sweep of its three games in the Westin Lake Mary Invitational and a marquee win over a Big Ten foe. The loss dropped the Boilermakers to 8-2 on the year.
 
The game was not a thing of beauty to watch, with the two teams combining to make six errors, resulting in seven unearned runs.
 
Stetson jumped on Purdue starter Ryan Beard to score four runs in the second inning, with two of those being unearned as a result of two errors. The big blow in the frame was a three-run double by senior Nico Torino, who was making his first start of the season at second base. Torino came in to score on the first hit of the year for Kirk Sidwell.
 
The lead didn't last long because the Boilermakers took advantage of two Stetson errors in the third to score four runs of their own off Hatters starter Mitchell Senger. A two-run double by Ben Nisle was the big hit in the frame.
 
Stetson came right back in the bottom of the frame, scoring three runs off Purdue reliever Mike Kornacker (0-1), with all three runs crossing the plate on wild pitches.
 
Senger kept the Boilermakers in check into the fifth before running out of gas. Senior Ben Onyshko (2-0) came on to get a double play to end that inning before getting into trouble of his own in the sixth. After allowing a one-out double to Nick Evarts and then a two-out walk, Onyshko got Harry Shipley to lift a pop up into shallow left field. Hatters shortstop Jorge Arenas did all he could do to get there, but was unable to hold on to the ball, allowing two runs to score.
 
The Hatters called on senior closer Brooks Wilson to get out of the inning, and he did, retiring 10 straight with the help of a double play in the seventh to earn his fifth save of the year.
 
With Wilson in control on the mound, Stetson added four runs in the seventh inning off Dalton Parker, the fifth of six Purdue pitchers in the game. Two runs scored when Dalton threw the ball away on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Austin Hale, allowing Hale to go all the way to third. Jonathan Meola followed with an RBI single and then Bruce Martin ripped a ball to the gap off Ross Learnard for a double to score Meola with the final run.
 
Overall, 11 of the 12 Stetson players who had at bats in the game delivered at least one hit. Torino and Mike Spooner were the only Hatters with multiple hits in the game.
 
Purdue, which came in hitting .323 on the year, was held to just seven hits in the game and Stetson's three pitchers combined to record 13 strikeouts.
 
The Hatters are off to the best start to a season since the 2011 club opened with a 10-1 mark. Stetson will try to equal that milestone on Wednesday night when the Hatters host Wagner from the Northeast Conference. The Seahawks (3-6) were swept over the weekend in a series at UCF.
 
There will be two other college games at Melching Field this week, with Virginia Tech facing Wagner on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and then squaring off with Central Michigan for a second time on Wednesday at noon.
 
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.