The Stetson baseball team played like a team that had not played or practiced in almost two weeks on Friday night, dropping the series opener against North Florida 7-3.
 
The Hatters fall to 19-11 overall with the loss and fall to 5-2 in ASUN play. UNF improved to 10-15, 4-3 in league play.
 
The game was expected to be a showcase for starting pitchers Nick Durgin and Tony Roca, but Mother Nature intervened after just one inning, with lightning and rain causing an hour and 56 minute delay in the proceedings.
 
Neither starting pitcher returned when play resumed, turning the game into a bull pen game.
 
Stetson closer Danny Garcia answered the bell for the Hatters after the delay, striking out the first three hitters he faced. Former Hatter Austin Bogart ended Garcia's opening stretch of outs with a solo homer to center in the third inning. Garcia surrendered an unearned run on a pair of errors in the fourth inning and then three more runs before exiting the game in the fifth.
 
The first two of five pitchers out of the pen for UNF weren't perfect, with Darin Kilfoyl allowing a run in the home half of the third and Rafael Santos allowing a pair in the fifth, but the Ospreys turned to their best relievers over the final three-plus innings to put the Hatters on ice.
 
The Hatters were cursed all night by bad luck offensively, with several hard hit balls converted to outs on line drives or nice defensive plays.
 
The only real bright spot for the Hatters offensively was redshirt freshman catcher Christian Pregent, who had three hits in three at bats and came a homer short of hitting for the cycle. He missed out on getting a fourth at bat when the final out was recorded with him in the on-deck circle.
 
The Hatters and Ospreys will be back at Melching Field on Saturday night for the second game of weekend series. The game has been designated as the Hatters' vs. Cancer game and is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start.  
 
Game Facts

• Win – Rafael Santos (1-2)
• Loss – Danny Garcia (2-1)
• Time – 2:47

Scoring Summary

• T3 – Former Hatter Austin Bogart homered to dead center to give UNF a 1-0 lead.
• B3 – After Christian Pregent delivered the first hit of the game for Stetson, Kyle Ball drove him home with a single to left.
• T4 – A pair of Stetson errors allowed two runners to reach base for Aidan Sweatt to double one run home, giving UNF a 2-1 lead.
• T5 – UNF put three runs on the board to take a 5-1 lead. Abraham Sequera hit a homer down the right field line and then the Ospreys got two-out hits from Grant Grodi and Alex Karchler, followed by a wild pitch, plated two more.
• B5 – Ryne Guida led off with a double, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a triple by Pregent. MacNeil delivered a sacrifice fly to score Pregent, cutting the UNF lead to 5-3.
• T7 – Freshman Jovan Gill loaded the bases with one out on a walk, a doubly by Karchler and a hit batter. He gave way to fellow freshman Austin Amaral, who made his collegiate debut with the bases loaded. Blake Marabell plated a run with a sacrifice fly, but Amaral left the other two runners stranded.
• T9 – UNF got another insurance run thanks to the third Stetson error of the game. Karchler reached on a one-out single and then advanced to third on a fielders' choice when the throw from Banks Griffith was wide of the bag. Marabell followed with another sacrifice fly to plate the run.

Hatters Notes

• The game was the 200^th in the career of Hernen Sardinas.
• Neither starting pitcher survived the one hour, 56 minute, weather delay. Stetson starter Nick Durgin threw just eight pitches in his start while UNF starter Tony Roca threw 24 pitches.
• Ball extended his on-base streak to 22 games by drawing a walk in the first. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games in the third with his RBI single.
• Pregent had three hits in a game for the third time in his last six games. Over the last six games he has played in he is batting .545 (12-for-22).
• Freshman right-hander Austin Amaral made his collegiate debut with 2.2 solid innings of work on the mound. He worked in the low 90s and allowed only an unearned run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts.

 
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.