After a busy couple of weeks of play, and with a hectic stretch of games on the upcoming schedule, Stetson baseball coach Steve Trimper gave a couple of his youngest players an opportunity on Wednesday night against Wagner.
 
The pair of freshmen, catcher Nick Cardieri and first baseman Eric Foggo, both delivered as the Hatters posted their fourth shutout victory of the season, blanking the Seahawks 10-0 at Melching Field.
 
Stetson improved to 10-1 on the year, matching the 2011 squad for the second best start in school history. Wagner fell to 3-8 on the year with the loss.
 
It was Cardieri's double in the fourth inning that finally broke a scoreless tie, scoring Foggo, who reached on an infield hit, and Jonathan Meola. In the sixth inning it was Foggo who delivered, blasting a two-run home run to push the Stetson lead to 4-0.
 
Many of the more familiar names chipped in for the Hatters during a six-run seventh inning to blow the game open. Mike Spooner drove in two runs with a double off reliever Koby Bishop and then came around to score when Bruce Martin drew a bases loaded walk.
 
The Seahawks went back to the pen, calling on Freddy Sabido to pitch to Jacob Koos, who delivered a three-run double to dead center to cap the scoring.
 
The offensive outburst came in support of junior right-hander Joey Gonzalez (3-0) who continued his season-opening run of mastery on the mound. Gonzalez worked seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out seven.
 
In his three outings so far this year, Gonzalez has worked 17.1 scoreless innings while allowing 12 hits and recording 18 strikeouts.
 
Freshman Austin Wood and redshirt sophomore Jeremy Orbik worked the final two innings for Stetson to complete the shutout.
 
Wagner starter Keaton Freire (0-1) took the loss. He worked four innings, allowing just two runs on six hits.
 
Koos, Foggo and Cardieri did most of the damage for the Hatters on offense, accounting for seven of the 11 Stetson hits in the game.
 
The Hatters will try to continue their early run of solid play this weekend when they host the Spiders of Richmond (7-4) for a three-game series that will begin a stretch of 10 games in 12 days for Stetson.
 
The games this weekend are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night with the series finale set for Sunday at 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.