There was a collective sigh of relief Saturday night at Melching Field as the fans who braved the falling temperatures willed Eric Foggo's blooper into center field to find a soft landing spot in the grass.
 
As all eyes tracked the flight of the ball, Kyle Ball was racing around third base and heading for home with the winning run as the Hatters took the second game of their weekend series against visiting UMBC 8-7 in 12 innings.
 
It was the second consecutive weekend for the Stetson player featured on the give-away baseball card to deliver a game-winning, walk-off hit. Jorge Arenas pulled the trip last Sunday against Hartford. Stetson improved to 7-2 on the season with the victory while UMBC fell to 1-6.
 
After splitting the first two games, the Hatters and Retrievers will square off one more time on Sunday, with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
For the second straight day against UMBC, the Hatters found themselves in an early deficit. Unlike Friday's 9-0 hole, Stetson trailed by just two runs after the Retrievers tallied a pair against Hatters' starter Robbie Peto in the first inning. The runs were the first surrendered by Peto this year and the three hits by UMBC in that opening frame were more than he allowed in his first two starts combined.
 
Peto bounced back from the rough start and held the Retrievers in check until the Stetson bats could find some life against the UMBC starter, Joe Nestel. That life finally came in the fifth inning when the Hatters sent nine batters to the plate, scoring four runs.
 
After Jorge Arenas walked to open the frame, one of 12 free passes to go with five hit batters by the UMBC pitchers, Andrew MacNeil got Stetson on the board with a triple into the right field corner. MacNeil scored on a ground out to third by Ball to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Nestel then allowed a walk to Nick DiPonzio before Mark Townsend singled. Foggo then delivered an RBI double for a 3-2 Stetson lead. After a pitching change, Brandon Hylton delivered a solid single to left, scoring Townsend for a 4-2 Stetson lead.
 
The advantage didn't last. UMBC picked up four hits, all singles and none hit especially hard, in the top of the sixth to score a pair of runs and tie the game at 4-4.
 
Stetson answered right back with three runs in the bottom of the inning, all coming off reliever Bryan Gilliam, and all scoring without the benefit of a hit. Three walks, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly accounted for the scoring.
 
UMBC got a jolt from Ryan Brown in the seventh when he blasted a homer to left off sophomore reliever Bret Neilan. The right-hander retired the next five Retrievers hitters before failing to get a called third strike against Dmitri Floyd in the eighth. Floyd, who had three hits in the game, took advantage of his new life and singled to keep the inning alive. Christian Torres followed with a two-run homer, tying the score at 7-7.
 
That was where things remained for the next five innings. Stetson's Garner Spoljaric (3-0) and Dustin Gosnell (0-1) battled on the mound despite both teams mounting multiple threats. Spoljaric kept the game tied with strikeouts to end the 10^th, 11^th and 12^th innings, leaving runners in scoring position twice.
 
The Hatters finally found a way to push a run across in the bottom of the 12^th when Foggo lifted a low pop fly just past the outstretched glove of UMBC second baseman Dylan Wilkinson. Ball, who had reached on a failed sacrifice bunt attempt, raced around to scoring the winning run.
 
Spoljaric turned in his longest outing, four full innings, and struck out seven to get the win. He held UMBC, which had 15 hits in the game, to just two over the final four frames. Gosnell took the loss, allowing the one run on four hits with three walks over his 3.2 innings of work.
 
MacNeil and Foggo had two hits each to lead Stetson. The Hatters were limited to just nine hits in the game. Seven of the nine starters in the lineup for UMBC had at least two hits.
 
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.