ORLANDO, Fla. - Sophomore Bret Neilan gave the Stetson Hatters all they could have hoped for on Tuesday night at John Euliano Park, holding the homestanding UCF Knights scoreless over 5.2 innings of work in a 7-0 Hatters win.
 
It was Stetson's second consecutive victory at UCF after having lost the previous seven games to the Knights at their home field.
 
Neilan allowed just three hits with three walks in his first start of the year, never allowing UCF to get a runner past second base. It was the longest shutout outing of his Stetson career. The win was the second of Neilan's collegiate career. The first came on March 9, 2019, in a relief outing against Maryland.
 
Neilan got some help from reliever Nich Chiseri in the sixth after an error and a walk put two UCF runners on base. Chiseri got out of the inning when Alex Freeland lined out to left-center on a diving catch by Nick DiPonzio.
 
Chiseri came back out to work a 1-2-3 seventh, and then got the first two outs in the eighth, before turning the game over to Danny Garcia, who finished off the shutout in the ninth.
 
In addition to making a run-scoring catch in left field to close out the sixth inning, Nick DiPonzio had two hits and scored a pair of runs. Eric Foggo also had two hits, including a home run, and drove in four for the Hatters.
 
Stetson will be back in action at Melching Field on Friday night when the Hatters open a four-game weekend series against North Alabama. Friday's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start with a double-header on Saturday at 2 p.m. The final game of the series is scheduled for a noon start on Sunday.
 
Game Facts

• Win – Bret Neilan (1-0)
• Loss – Zack Hunsicker (0-1)
• Time – 3:02

 
Scoring Summary

• T1 – Christian Pregent delivered a two-out single to score Kyle Ball from second. Ball singled with one out in the inning and stole second to get into scoring position. Nick DiPonzio followed with a ground-rule double to right, scoring Hernen Sardinas, who had walked, from second. Eric Foggo punctuated the inning with a two-run single to give Stetson a 4-0 lead.
• T5 – Pregent delivered again, picking up his second RBI of the night on a ground ball that scored Brandon Hylton from third. Hylton had walked to open the inning and reached third on a Sardinas double.
• T8 – Foggo continued to have his way with the Knights, blasting a two-run homer to put Stetson up 7-0.

 
Hatters Notes

• Stetson's 5-0 start to the 2021 season matches the start to the 2018 season. The last time a Hatters team opened a season with as many as six straight wins was 2002. The team opened with eight consecutive wins that season.
• The shutout of the Knights is the 10^th in the history of the series for Stetson. The last time the Hatters blanked UCF was 2018 when Joey Gonzalez and Brooks Wilson combined for a 4-hit shutout in a 1-0 win.
• The shutout was the third in the first five games of the year for the Hatters. Stetson pitchers posted four shutouts during the pandemic shortened 2020 season.
• Foggo's homer in the game was his third in his last two trips to John Euliano Park. He had a pair of solo homers against the Knights last year. His four RBI in the game were the most for him since driving home five runs in the game at Kennesaw State on April 18, 2019 in which he hit for the cycle.
• Captain Jorge Arenas had a single in his first at-bat of the night for the 180^th hit of his career.
• Hernen Sardinas had his third double of the season and now stands just four hits away from 200 in his career. The double was the 55^th of his career.

 
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.