Lubbock, Texas – After spotting the No. 11 team in the country, Texas Tech, a 5-0 lead by the fourth inning, the visiting Stetson Hatters made a valiant comeback against the Red Raiders Monday afternoon at Rip Griffin Park.
The effort fell just short as the Hatters dropped the final game of their trip to Texas 5-4.
Stetson falls to 9-14 on the year with the loss while Texas Tech improved to 16-6.
The Hatters were never able to get anything going offensively against Tech sophomore starting pitcher Bryce Bonnin (2-0). The right hander held Stetson to just one hit over the first 6.1 innings, but was lifted with one out and one on in the seventh after surpassing 90 pitches.
He was relieved by junior left-hander Dane Haveman and the Hatters started to find some success.
With
Noah Dickerson on first after the walk,
E.J. Doskow singled to left center. That was followed by an RBI double from
Jacob Koos.
Kyle Ball then delivered a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 5-2 at the stretch.
The Hatters went right back to work against Haveman in the eighth inning when
Jorge Arenas opened the frame with a double. With one out and Arenas at second, Mark Towsend dropped a pop up behind first base that ended up going for an RBI triple, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
Austin Bogart delivered a sacrifice fly to trip the Tech lead to 5-4.
The Red Raiders turned to freshman Ryan Sublette in the ninth inning, but the Hatters were not going down without a fight. Koos singled with one out and then stole second after the second out, taking third on the play when catcher Braxton Fulford's throw went into center field because no one covered the bag.
Freshman
Austin Dilbert was called on to pinch hit, and worked the count full before going down swinging.
After a pair of scoreless innings to open the game, Texas Tech had its first big inning of the series in the third off Hatters starter
Bret Neilan (1-2). The Red Raiders scored three runs in the frame on a pair of doubles – one by Easton Murrell and the other by Dylan Neuse – a walk and a two-run triple by Josh Jung. A sacrifice fly scored Jung for a 4-0 Red Raiders lead.
Tech added another run in the fourth inning after Cody Masters doubled, moved up the third on a failed pickoff throw and then scored on a pop fly by Cameron Warren that landed just past the infield dirt, but over a drawn in Stetson infield and resulted in another double.
Freshman
Danny Garcia shut down the Tech offense the rest of the way. He worked 3.2 shutout innings, allowing three hits with one strikeout.
Koos had two of the six Stetson hits in the game to lead the Hatters. Jung led Tech with three hits.
Stetson will be back at Melching Field on Wednesday night as the Hatters play host to South Florida. That game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start.
The Hatters will open ASUN play next weekend at North Alabama.
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.
