Miami, Fla. – It took everything the Hatters had on Tuesday night at Infinity Insurance Park, and that was just enough as Stetson defeated FIU 2-1 to complete a season sweep of the Panthers.
 
Stetson improved to 35-11 with the win while dropping FIU to 20-22.
 
Stetson led the game from the very start, and junior Joey Gonzalez made the one first inning run stand up through seven solid frames on the mound. He allowed six hits and walked three, but stranded nine runners on base.
 
Things went south in the eighth when freshman Austin Wood came on in relief. He walked the first batter he faced in the inning and then had an 2-0 count on the next man when Hatters pitching coach Dave Therneau came to the mound and brought in senior closer Brooks Wilson.
 
Wilson wound up putting Jose Garcia on base with a walk that was credited to Wood before Lorenzo Hampton came to the plate and the chaos began. Hampton dropped down a sacrifice bunt attempt, but Wilson pounced on the ball and fired to third to get the lead runner.
 
Jonathan Meola tried to complete a double play, but his throw to first where Bruce Martin was covering was up the line and into Hampton coming up the line. The errant throw allowed both Garcia and Hampton to advance, and then Martin compounded the problem with a throw to second that hit Hampton, allowing Garcia to score from third with the tying run.
 
Wilson (5-0) got out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts, the first of which was the 300^th of his career, sending the game to the ninth inning tied at 1-1.
 
Andrew MacNeil led off the Stetson ninth with a bloop single to right center off Christian Santana (2-3), the fourth FIU pitcher of the game. It was the first hit for the Hatters since the first inning.
 
After getting MacNeil to second with a sacrifice bunt, Santana was able to strike Jacob Koos out to bring Wilson to the plate. FIU intentionally walked the Stetson senior to bring freshman Eric Foggo to the plate.
 
Foggo's night to that point included an 0-for-3 at the plate with two strikeouts and two errors in the field. He made amends for all that by dropping a single into right-center, scoring MacNeil with the go ahead run.
 
Wilson finished off the Panthers with a 1-2-3 ninth, picking up two more strikeouts, to secure the win for the Hatters.
 
Stetson got off to a quick start, scoring a run in the first inning on a pair of hits and a wild pitch. Baylen Sparks got on via a fielder's choice, stole second, moved up on a ground ball and then scored on a wild pitch from FIU starter Nick MacDonald.
 
FIU had a chance to tie the game in the second after Garcia reached on a bunt hit and the Hatters compounded it with a throwing error. That mistake was erased on a fly ball to center when Koos fired a strike to third to nail Garcia trying to advance.
 
MacNeil had two of the Hatters' four hits in the game. Austin Shenton led FIU, which had just six hits, with two.
 
The Hatters will return home to Melching Field this weekend for a three-game ASUN series against Jacksonville. The Dolphins come into the weekend just one game behind the league-leading Hatters in the race for a conference title.
 
Friday and Saturday's games are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. starts with Sunday's series finale scheduled for 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
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.