After getting an unexpected day off on Tuesday due to rain, the Stetson baseball team will return to action on Friday night at Melching Field in the annual Westin Lake Mary Stetson Invitational.
 
Play will begin on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. when Georgetown squares off against Sacred Heart. The Hatters will open the tournament against Saint Louis in a game that is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
 
First played in 1993, the Stetson Invitational has been played 15 times overall and this will be the ninth time in 10 years. The Hatters have a 33-18 overall record in the tournament. After sweeping through the event unbeaten last year, Stetson is 7-8 in the tournament over the last five years.
 
The three visiting teams in the tournament this year are all making their first appearance in the event. In fact, Stetson has never faced Saint Louis on the diamond and has played Sacred Heart just once, winning a 4-3 contest in 1983. The Hatters and Hoyas have played four times in the past, but not since that same 1983 season. Stetson leads the series 3-1.
 
Stetson (1-6) comes into the event this year trying to right the ship after a sluggish start. The Hatters have struggled both offensively and on the mound at times and have also be uncharacteristically sloppy on defense, having committed 10 errors in seven games.
 
Junior Austin Bogart continues to lead Stetson with a .423 average this year, but senior Jonathan Meola got hot last weekend, picking up five doubles in two games and raising his season average to .333.
 
On the mound, Stetson starting pitchers, with the exception of sophomore Robbie Peto (0-1, 1.64) have struggled to throw strikes on a consistent basis. That fact will see a new rotation in place this weekend.
 
Sophomore Chris Gonzalez (0-0, 1.69), who had been scheduled to start on Tuesday, will get the start against Saint Louis (3-4) on Friday. It will be just the second "official" start for the left-hander and first this year.
 
Gonzalez made his first start against USF on April 11 last year. He worked 2.2 innings allowing a run on three hits in that game. He also started the game at Miami on May 15 that was halted by lightning in the middle of the fifth inning. Gonzalez had allowed just one run on three hits with four strikeouts when play was stopped.
 
The Billikens will counter with redshirt junior right-hander Cody Luther (1-1, 2.08), who has 12 strikeouts in 13 innings of work in his first two starts, against Miami (Ohio) and Loyola Marymount.
 
Peto will make the start on Saturday against Georgetown (1-6) and will face Hoyas' junior left-hander Brent Killam (0-2, 6.52), a native of Nokomis, Fla., and a product of Venice High School.
 
In Sunday's game against Sacred Heart, freshman left-hander Daniel Paret (0-0, 1.29) will make his first collegiate start for the Hatters. In two relief appearances this year Paret has allowed one run on four hits with 11 strikeouts in seven innings of work.
 
The Pioneers (2-3) will counter with sophomore right-hander Ryan LaMay (0-1, 9.00) in what will be the first of three games between Stetson and Sacred Heart. The teams are scheduled to square off again on Tuesday and Wednesday night at Melching Field.

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.