Stetson baseball relied on tried and true tactics on Sunday to complete a four-game season-opening sweep of visiting Florida A&M. The Hatters got great pitching, great defense and timely hitting to win Sunday's games 3-1 and 6-0.
 
With the wins, Stetson improved to 42-5 all-time against the Rattlers, including 12-1 in games played at Melching Field. The four victories also improved Hatters coach Steve Trimper to 8-0 in his coaching career against FAMU.
 
Sunday's games were decided on the mound as veteran left-hander Chris Gonzalez and freshman right-hander Jovan Gill combined to throw 13 innings, allowing just one run on nine hits with 16 strikeouts. Relievers Garner Spoljaric and Nick Long combined for the other three innings, allowing one hit with six more strikeouts.
 
The Hatters are scheduled to play their first road game of the season on Tuesday at UCF's John Euliano Park. The Knights dropped two of their three-game weekend series against Florida Atlantic to open the season. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Game 1 Facts

• Win – Chris Gonzalez (1-0)
• Loss – Chandellor Benton (0-1)
• Save – Garner Spoljaric (1)
• Time – 2:31

 
Game 1 Scoring Summary

• T1 – Octavien Moyer led off with a single, moved up on a wild pitch and ground ball and scored on an infield hit by LJ Bryant to give FAMU a 1-0 lead.
• B3 – Dylan Brazil got things started with a one-out double. Andrew MacNeil was hit by a pitch, followed by walks to Kyle Ball and Hernen Sardinas and a wild pitch. Haters left two in scoring position, but took a 2-1 lead.
• B5 – MacNeil led off the inning with a double off reliever Kelyn Fox, moved up on a ground ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Hylton for a 3-1 Stetson lead.

 
Game 2 Facts

• Win – Jovan Gill (1-0)
• Loss – Khalil Wilson (0-1)
• Time – 2:19

 
Game 2 Scoring Summary

• B1 – MacNeil opened the final game of the weekend with a double into the right field corner. He moved up to third on a fly ball to center and scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 Stetson lead.
• B3 – After the FAMU starter, Wilson, walked the first two batters of the inning, Ben Krizen came on to pitch for the Rattlers. He got Ball to ground into a fielder's choice, putting runners on the corners for Sardinas, who singled to left center to plate Jorge Arenas. After an infield pop out and a walk loaded the bases, Nick DiPonzio delivered a two-run single for a 4-0 Stetson lead.
• B5 – Ball reached on an error to open the inning, stole second and moved up to third on a ground out. Camden Traficante came on as a pinch hitter and hit the ball back to FAMU hurler Carter Slentz, who wanted to go to first for the out but, instead, turned and threw wildly toward the place, allowing Ball to score and Traficante to get to second. Giovany Lorenzo followed with a single to right-center to score Traficante and give the Hatters a 6-0 lead.

 
Hatters Notes

• The double in the third inning of the opening game by Brazil was the first hit for Stetson and the first collegiate hit for the freshman. The Hatters had three doubles in the opener with Jackson Olson and MacNeil also picking up two-base hits.
• Gonzalez finished off his seven innings of work with 10 strikeouts, with eight of those looking. Spoljaric closed out the game with five consecutive strikeouts for the save.
• Stetson pitchers combined to record 39 strikeouts during the four-game series. Better than 40 percent of the outs recorded in the series by the Hatters were on strikes.
• MacNeil was hit by a pitch in the opening game Sunday, giving him three in the series and 36 in his career. MacNeil is nine behind Brandon Pruitt (2004-07) for second on the career list.
• Overall, Stetson batters were hit by pitches six times in the weekend series.
• With the sweep of the Rattlers, Trimper is now just two wins away from 600 in his coaching career.
• With six hits in the weekend series, Sardinas is now just five hits away from 200 in his collegiate career.
• A total of eight players had their debut performances for the Hatters during the weekend series. Including grad transfers Sardinas and Olson, first time Hatters included transfer Banks Griffith, junior college transfer Connor Kehl and freshmen Anthony DeFabbia, Jovan Gill, Brazil and Traficante.
• Stetson is now 126-26 all-time against members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). All but five of those games have been against either FAMU or Bethune-Cookman. Both of those schools are moving to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) after this year. Stetson has never faced any of the 10 current SWAC members in baseball.

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.