Freshman left-hander Daniel Paret stepped up big for the Stetson Hatters on Thursday night, throwing eight shutout innings while allowing just two hits, allowing Stetson to take a 2-0 series opening victory over North Florida.
 
The win for the Hatters (23-29, 10-11) moves the team one step closer to a spot in next weeks' ASUN Tournament, which will be held on Stetson's home field. Jacksonville helped the Hatters' cause by defeating Kennesaw State meaning that any combination of one Stetson win or one KSU loss for the rest of the weekend clinches Stetson's spot in the tournament.
 
North Florida (30-22, 11-10) clinched a spot in the tournament field thanks to the JU victory over KSU.
 
Paret (5-3), who has been locked in on the mound over his last four outings, was never really threatened by the Ospreys on Thursday. UNF put two runners on base in both the third and fourth innings, but Paret was able to easily avoid trouble with a strikeout to end the third and a pop up to first to end the fourth.
 
The freshman finished the night with nine strikeouts over his eight innings of work. He closed out his night with a strikeout to finish the eighth inning after allowing a leadoff single, but then snagging a line drive off the bat of Chris Berry and getting a double play.
 
Senior Vlad Nunez came on in the ninth, closing out UNF for his league leading 12^th save of the year.
 
While Paret was dealing on the mound for Stetson, UNF starter Brad Deppermann was having a quality night of his own. The senior right-hander allowed just four hits over seven innings, striking out eight.
 
Deppermann was done in by his defense, which committed errors in the first and third innings that led directly to the two Stetson runs.
 
Jacob Koos singled with one out in the first and stole second, but appeared stranded when Jorge Arenas hit a ground ball to third. Chris Berry's throw across the diamond, however, was wild, allowing Koos to score. The hit moved Koos into the career top 20 at Stetson. It was the 226^th of his career.
 
Andrew MacNeil opened the third inning by reaching on a fielding error by shortstop Tanner May. He moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Koos, stole third and then scored on Eric Foggo ground ball to third, beating Berry's throw to the plate.
 
That was it for the offense in a game that lasted just two hours and eight minutes.
 
The Hatters and Ospreys will return for game two of the series on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. with sophomore left-hander Chris Gonzalez (7-2) on the mound for Stetson and UNF senior right-hander Nick Marchese (6-0).
 
Prior to the start of the game, Stetson will honor the five Hatters seniors – Koos, Nunez, Baylen Sparks, Bruce Martin and Jeremy Orbik.
 
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.