Jacksonville, Fla. – The Stetson Hatters scored early and often on Thursday night to take an 11-1 series opening victory over Jacksonville at Sessions Stadium.
 
The Hatters (17-9, 3-1) scored in the second, third, fifth, seventh and eighth innings, putting up three runs in three of those frames. That production was more than enough for redshirt freshman Stetson starting pitcher Nick Durgin, who worked six shutout innings for his fifth win of the season.
 
Durgin allowed just three hits over his six innings of work and posted six strikeouts. Jovan Gill worked a pair of frames for Stetson before Garner Spoljaric closed things out in the ninth.
 
The Hatters had plenty of offensive stars. Both Kyle Ball and Christian Pregent had three hits in the game, while Andrew MacNeil, Brandon Hylton and Eric Foggo had two each. Hylton drove in a career-high four runs.
 
Jacksonville starter Tyler Santana (3-3) worked into the seventh inning, allowing seven runs on eight hits as the Dolphins fell to 6-16 on the year, 0-4 in ASUN play.
 
The Hatters and Dolphins will continue with their series on Friday evening, with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
Game Facts

• Win – Nick Durgin (5-1)
• Loss – Tyler Santana (3-4)
• Time – 3:00

 
Scoring Summary

• T2 – Eric Foggo opened the inning with an opposite field home run for a 1-0 Stetson lead.
• T3 – The Hatters pushed their lead to 2-0 when Kyle Ball singled home Christian Pregent, who opening the inning with a single. Andrew MacNeil was thrown out at home on the play.
• T5 – After Pregent drew a walk and MacNeil followed with a single to right, Ball ripped an RBI single to center to make it 3-0. One out later, Brandon Hylton singled to left to score a pair of runs and make it 5-0.
• T7 – Hylton did damage again, ripping the first pitch he saw from JU reliever Jagger McCoy to the gap in right to score a pair of runs. Foggo followed with an RBI single to make it an 8-0 Stetson lead.
• T8 – A leadoff double by Arenas was followed by a double from Pregent. MacNeil plated both runners with a standup triple and then scored on a ground out by Ball to make it 11-0.
• B8 – Jacksonville broke up the shutout by loading the bases with two singles and a walk before a wild pitch allowed a runner to score.

 
Hatters Notes

• Foggo's home run was the 20^th of his Stetson career.
• Hylton set a new career-high with four RBI in the game. He had never had more than two RBI in any game, but has done that seven times.
• Ball tied his career-high with three hits in the game. He has had three hits in a game now three times in his career.
• Durgin worked six shutout innings in his start. It was the first time in seven starts this year he did not yield a run, lowering his season ERA to 2.62.
• Jorge Arenas crept closer to the 200-hit milestone with a double for his 197^th.
• Pregent has put together consecutive three-hit games and has six hits in hist last seven at bats.
• MacNeil scored three runs in the game to push his season total to 34, tying him with Arizona's Donta Williams for the NCAA lead.

 
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.