Newark, NJ – Junior Logan Gilbert turned in his most dominant performance of the season on Friday night and got plenty of offensive support from freshman Eric Foggo and others in a 9-1 series opening win over NJIT.
 
With the win, the Hatters improved to 29-10 overall and 5-2 in ASUN play while dropping the Highlanders to 15-15 overall, 3-7 in the league. The teams will get together again on Saturday at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium for game two of the weekend series. That game is set for a 1 p.m. start.
 
Gilbert (7-1) retired the first 14 batters he faced on Friday, striking out 11 of them, before the Highlanders broke up his perfect game with a two-out triple from Matt Cocciadiferro just inside the right field line.
 
By the time the Highlanders got their first hit off Gilbert, Stetson had already built a 5-0 lead, scoring a single run in the first on a Jacob Koos homer, adding three in the second and one in the fifth off NJIT starter Jared Kacso (2-4). Nico Torino and Foggo got things going in the second with back-to-back triples. Foggo scored on a ground out before Jonathan Meola reached on an error, moved up on a ground ball and then scored on a Koos single.
 
Brooks Wilson reached on a Highlanders error in the fifth and game in to score on a two-out Foggo single.
 
NJIT scored its only run after the triple in the fifth. David Marcano dropped a single in to right center to score Cocciadiferro with the run.
 
The Hatters got that run back in the seventh when Foggo blasted a solo homer off NJIT reliever Brett Lubreski that cleared the bullpens behind the left-field wall.
 
Stetson added three more insurance runs in the eighth off another NJIT reliever, James Sofield. Austin Bogart reached to start the inning on a hit by pitch. He moved up on a wild pitch before Koos drew a walk. Jorge Arenas followed with a two-run triple to right center and later scored on a ground out.
 
Gilbert allowed another hit, a leadoff single by Paul Franzoni, in the sixth before retiring the next nine straight to finish his eight innings of work. He struck out the last two hitters he faced to finish with a season-high 14 on the night.
 
Foggo led off the Stetson ninth needing a double to hit for the cycle, but settled for a single up the middle, his fourth hit of the game. He finished the night with a career-high four hits, three RBI and two runs scored. Koos also had two hits, drove in two and scored two for the Hatters.
 
Freshman Chris Gonzalez worked a scoreless ninth inning for the Hatters to close out the win.
 
With his 14 strikeouts, Gilbert moved into seventh on the Stetson career list with 251. He has surpassed the 100 strikeout plateau for the season, the second straight year he has hit that mark. He joins with Williard Brown (1992-93) and Lenny DiNardo (2000-01) as the third pitcher in Stetson history with back-to-back seasons of 100 or more strikeouts.
 
Gilbert is now just 32 strikeouts from breaking DiNardo's school record for strikeouts in a season, which he set in 2000 with 132.
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.