The Stetson baseball team will attempt to reboot the start of the 2019 season on Tuesday night when the Hatters travel to Orlando for the first of two games this year against in-state rival UCF.
 
Tonight's game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from John Euliano Park. The game will be broadcast online on UCFKnight.TV ($) and live stats will be available at StatBroadcast.com.
 
The Hatters will try to bounce back from a tough opening weekend in which the team struggled offensively. Stetson hit just .167 as a team in the three games of the RyCass Classic and scored a total of five runs in three games. Strikeouts were the biggest issue as the Hatters went down on strikes 39 times in the three games.
 
Stetson will square off against a UCF team that swept three games from visiting Siena, outscoring the Saints 15-4 in the series. The Knights walked off in the season opener with a 3-2 win on a Siena throwing error before taking the final two games 5-1 and 7-1.
 
The Knights were led offensively by sophomore Griffin Bernardo, who hit .455 on the weekend with a pair of doubles, a home run and two RBI.
 
Stetson will send senior Vlad Nunez to the mound for his first start for the Hatters. The right-hander appeared in 11 games last spring, all in relief, and was 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA. He worked an inning of relief in the season-opener against Virginia Tech, allowing two runs on three hits.
 
The Hatters will face off against UCF junior left-hander Jaylin Whitehead, who will make his first collegiate start in the game. A transfer from Northwest Florida State, Whitehead appeared in five games last spring, working a total of 4.1 innings with a 2.08 ERA. The Orlando native started his collegiate career at the University of New Mexico in 2016, redshirting for Lobos.
 
Stetson was led offensively during the opening weekend by junior outfielder Austin Bogart and senior Baylen Sparks. Bogart his .500 in the tournament with a double, a triple and two runs scored. Sparks hit .333 during the weekend while starting two games as the designated hitter and one and first base. Sparks hit his only home run last year at UCF.
 
Following the game against the Knights, the Hatters will be back at home this weekend for a four-game series against the same Siena team that UCF faced to start the year. The series will begin on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. and will include a 1 p.m. start on Sunday before returning on Monday and Tuesday for 6:30 p.m. starts.
 
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.