The Stetson Hatters did not get off to the kind of start they had hoped for in the 2019 ASUN Tournament at Melching Field.
 
But the start of the game was overshadowed by the Hatters' three-run ninth inning, lifting Stetson to a 7-5 victory over top-seeded FGCU Wednesday morning.
 
Stetson (25-30) won for just the second time this year, against 26 losses, when trailing entering the ninth inning. The victory was also win No. 100 at Stetson for Hatters coach Steve Trimper.
 
The Hatters will await the loser of tonight's game between third seed Lipscomb and No. 4 Jacksonville. That game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start on Thursday. FGCU (34-20) falls into a must-win game on Thursday at 11 a.m. against the loser of the game between North Florida and Liberty.
 
"FGCU is a great team, and they are the regular season champs, but we made some mistakes early in the game that made this game closer than it might have been," Trimper said. "We left guys on base and had a couple of base-running blunders that cost us some runs early.
 
"We didn't dwell on that, we just focused on trying to win innings from the fifth inning on. That got us back into position and then we had some things go our way in the ninth inning. It was a great win for us."
 
The Eagles jumped in front early, scoring a single run in the second inning and three more in the third against Stetson starting pitcher Daniel Paret. The ASUN Freshman of the Year worked just four innings in the game, his fewest since April 13 when he managed just 3.2 innings at Liberty.
 
Paret allowed all five FGCU runs, four earned, while walking four and striking out three – which gave him 100 Ks for the year, making him the 12^th player in Stetson history to reach that milestone.
 
FGCU designated hitter Kohl Gilmore was the big bat for the Eagles. He doubled and scored in the second and then hit a two-run homer in the third.
 
Stetson, playing as the road team, answered in the top of the fourth, scoring a pair of runs off FGCU starter Mason Studstill to cut the deficit in half. Jorge Arenas and Noah Dickerson opened the inning with consecutive singles. Arenas stole third and then scored on a single by Nick Cardieri.
 
Dickerson came home on a wild pitch for the second run.
 
FGCU took advantage of a Stetson error in the bottom of the inning to pate its fifth run, but that was all the Eagles could muster. Freshman Danny Garcia (4-1) shut down the FGCU lineup over the next four frames, allowing just two hits, to get the win.
 
Stetson kept the pressure on offensively, scoring a single run in the fifth on Dickerson's two-out RBI to score Jacob Koos, who walked. Austin Bogart get the Hatters back to within one in the sixth with a leadoff home run, chasing Studstill, who allowed the four runs on six hits over five innings of work.
 
That was where the game stayed until the ninth despite the Hatters putting runners in scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings against relievers Nikolas Bitner and Hunter McGarry (6-2). Stetson finished the game with 11 runners left on base.
 
Koos got things starts in the ninth, drawing a walk. He moved up to third on a double by Eric Foggo and came in to tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Arenas. Dickerson followed with a sinking liner to first that FGCU's Jay Hayes thought he caught on the fly. The ball was ruled a trap, with Foggo moving up to third on the play.
 
Senior Baylen Sparks gave Stetson the lead with by dropping down a safety squeeze bunt, and Bogart followed with an RBI single.
 
Senior Vlad Nunez closed out the game in the ninth for his 13^th save.
 
Foggo, Dickerson and Bogart led Stetson with two hits each. Gilmore paced the Eagles with three hits in the game.
 
"This league is so close that anyone can beat anyone," Trimper said. "Step one for us was just getting into the tournament. Step two was getting to the 3 p.m. game tomorrow. We'll come out and try to take another step when we play tomorrow."

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.