Stetson pitchers had their collective backs to the wall all afternoon Saturday, struggling to contain the hot hitting of visiting South Florida in a 10-5 Bulls victory.
The win clinched the weekend series between the teams for the Bulls, who won their sixth straight game to improve to 6-3 on the year. Stetson falls to 10-2 with the loss.
The Hatters and Bulls are scheduled to wrap-up the series on Sunday afternoon at USF Baseball Stadium in Tampa, with first pitch set for 4 p.m.
USF had hits in every inning except the fourth and ninth and scored in five of the first six innings. The Bulls scored three runs off freshman starting pitcher
Jovan Gill, three more off another freshman,
Jonathan Gonzalez, and two off redshirt sophomore
Gavin Sullivan. Redshirt junior
Nick Long finally quieted the USF bats, but needed a strikeout and a double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth.
USF finished with 16 hits in the game and had another five runners reach base via walks. The Stetson offense managed 10 hits in the game, but the Hatters were playing from behind right from the start.
Andrew MacNeil,
Kyle Ball and
Connor Kehl had two hits each for Stetson. The Bulls had four hits from Carmine Lane and three from Nick Gonzalez.
Game Facts
- Win – Baron Stuart (2-0)
- Loss – Jovan Gill (2-1)
- Save – Logan Lyle (1)
- Time – 3:03
Scoring Summary
- T1 – Matt Ruiz reached on a one-out triple just under the glove of Hernen Sardinas in left and Lane drove him home with a single just out of reach of Jackson Olson at third base to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.
- B1 – After Ball singled and Sardinas reached on an error, Brandon Hylton and Kehl delivered RBI singles to give the Hatters a 2-1 lead.
- T2 – Drew Brutcher hit his second home run of the weekend, this one a three-run shot, to put USF back on top 4-2.
- T3 – Roberto Pena hit a solo homer to left with two out to give USF a 5-2 lead.
- B4 – Kehl led off with a ground-rule double to left and scored on a two-out single by Jorge Arenas to cut the USF lead to 5-3.
- T5 – Four consecutive singles off Jonathan Gonzalez plated a run and a hit batter plated another. Gavin Sullivan came on and got a ground-ball double play and a fly out to end the inning, but three scored for an 8-3 USF lead.
- T6 – Three hits and a walk drove in two more runs for the Bulls, pushing the USF lead to 10-3.
- B7 – MacNeil led off with a double and scored on a single by Giovany Lorenzo. Eric Foggo drew a bases loaded walk to plate another run to cut the deficit to 10-5.
Hatters Notes
- USF has closed the all-time series record to within one game with the consecutive wins at Melching Field. Stetson takes an 88-87 series lead into Sunday's game in Tampa. Stetson has lost its last three games against USF.
- Jorge Arenas took another step toward the 200-hit milestone with his RBI single in the fourth. Arenas enters play on Sunday with 186 career hits.
- MacNeil's seventh inning double was the 20th of his Stetson career.
- The Stetson defense turned three double plays in the game on Saturday. It was the most twin killings in a game for Stetson since turning four double plays against Kennesaw State on April 19, 2019. USF designated hitter Julio Cortez was the ignition for all three double plays on Saturday.
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.
