Kennesaw, Ga. – Stetson had an opportunity early in Friday night's ASUN baseball opener at Kennesaw State to deliver a knockout punch to the Owls.
Instead, the Hatters left six runners on base over a three-inning stretch. The host team made Stetson pay dearly in a 9-6 KSU victory.
The loss drops the Hatters to 23-7 overall and 0-1 in league play. KSU improved to 16-14 overall and 3-1 in ASUN play.
Stetson jumped on KSU starter A.J. Moore with three runs in the first inning.
Jacob Koos started the game with a double on Moore's first pitch. After a sacrifice bunt moved him to third,
Jorge Arenas delivered a ground ball to drive Koos home for a 1-0 lead.
Brooks Wilson followed by drawing a walk before
Nico Torino blasted a ball out to left for a 3-0 Hatters lead.
After leaving a runner in scoring position in the second, the Hatters added a run in the third thanks to a pair of walks and a two-out RBI single by
Mike Spooner for a 4-0 lead.
Stetson had a chance to blow things wide open in the fourth after
Austin Hale reached on an error. Koos delivered the second of his season-high four hits and Arenas was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Moore got out of the jam, getting Wilson to ground out to end the inning.
Stetson junior
Logan Gilbert (6-1) dominated through the first three-plus innings, retiring the first 11 KSU hitters of the game. That string came to a jolting end when Grant Williams ripped a 1-0 breaking ball down the right field line, and out of the park, just inside the fair pole, for a home run.
Griffin Helms followed with a hot smash at Arenas at short that he was unable to come up with before James Franklin blasted a two-run homer, cutting the Stetson lead to 4-3.
The Hatters got one run back in the fifth when Torino led off the inning with a triple and then scored on a Spooner fly ball, but the Owls came right back in the bottom of the inning with some more two-out magic.
Garrett Hodges led off the inning with a routine ground ball to second that Torino was unable to make a play on. After the "hit", the Owls sacrificed Hodges to second before Gilbert got a strikeout for the second out of the inning. The top of the KSU order then delivered three consecutive singles – from David Chabut, Tyler Simon and Williams – to score a pair of runs and tie the game at 5-5.
KSU chased Gilbert in the seventh when Chalbut picked up a one-out hit and Simon drew a walk. Williams came through again with a single to drive in the go ahead run and end the night for the Stetson right-hander.
Senior left-hander
Ben Onyshko came in from the pen to try to get out of the inning. After he got a ground ball to third that
Jonathan Meola was unable to handle loaded the bases, Onyshko walked Franklin to force in a run. A ground out forced in another to make it 8-5.
The nine hits Gilbert allowed tied his career high while the eight runs, six earned runs, were both career highs. The loss was just the second of Gilbert's collegiate career, and the first since April 17, 2016 at North Florida, snapping a streak of 16 consecutive victories.
The Hatters got one run back in the eighth inning when
Austin Bogart led off against reliever Jake McLinskey with a solo home run, his first of the year. Stetson got two more runners on base in the inning, but left them stranded. The Hatters left a total of nine runners on base in the game.
KSU added an insurance run in the eighth inning on a two-out double by Simon to score pinch-runner Matt Mixon. Six of the ninth Owls runs in the game came with two out in an inning.
Reliever Logan Hutchinson (2-0) got the win for his one inning of relief. McLinskey picked up his second save by working the final two frames.
Both teams finished the game with 11 hits. Koos led all players with four while Torino and Bogart had two each for Stetson. Williams led the Owls with three hits while Chabut and Simon had two each.
The Hatters and Owls are scheduled to get back together on Saturday at 2 p.m. for the second game of the series. With a forecast calling for an 80 percent chance of rain during the day, that game time may be fluid.
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.
