Gainesville, Fla. – There is an old saying that "Chicks dig the long ball." While that might be true, it helps to mix in a few singles to go with those home runs.
 
The Stetson Hatters hit three balls out of the new Florida Ballpark on Tuesday night, but still came up short, falling to Florida 7-6 in the second game of the year between the teams.
 
Stetson falls to 19-10 with the loss while Florida improved to 19-9.
 
Solo home runs by Brandon Hylton and Hernen Sardinas spotted Stetson an early lead, but the Gators responded by chipping away at the quartet of Hatters freshmen on the mound. Florida had nine singles and three doubles in the game, and a solo homer of their own in the eighth inning that proved to be the final margin.
 
Stetson managed just eight hits against the four Florida pitchers, and got help from four Gators errors, but left five runners on base in the game, including three in scoring position.
 
Florida took the lead in the fourth inning, scoring three runs off starter Jonathan Gonzalez, and then added a pair of runs off Jonathan Velazquez in the fifth.
 
The duo of Anthony DeFabbia and Jovan Gill kept the Gators in check until the eighth when Florida got a two-out homer from its number nine hitter, Josh Rivera, who also had two doubles in the game.
 
Stetson will get two more shots at the Gators, back in Gainesville on May 4 and at home at Melching Field on May 11 in the final home game of the regular season.
 
The Hatters return to Melching Field this weekend to open a three-game ASUN Conference series against North Florida. The Ospreys, including former Stetson standout Austin Bogart, will square off against the Hatters at 6:30 on Friday and Saturday night, with the series finale set for Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
Game Facts

• Win – Garrett Milchin (2-1)
• Loss – Jonathan Gonzalez (2-1)
• Save – Franco Aleman (4)
• Time – 2:35

Scoring Summary

• B1 – Consecutive singles to open the game were followed by a sacrifice fly to give Florida an early 1-0 lead.
• T2 – Brandon Hylton blasted a long home run to right to open the inning, knotting the score at 1-1.
• T4 – Hernen Sardinas opened the frame with his third home run of the year for a 2-1 Stetson lead.
• B4 – Florida put together four ground ball singles with one out, scoring a pair of runs to take a 3-2 lead. After Jonathan Velazquez came in to pitch, he got a strikeout before Josh Rivera snuck a ball in down the left-field line, scoring another run for a 4-2 lead. Another runner tried to score, but was thrown out at home.
• B5 – After getting a single and a walk to open the inning, Anthony DeFabbia came on to pitch, getting a ground ball out, but then Sterlin Thompson doubled into the corner in left to score one and then a sacrifice fly scored another for a 6-2 Florida lead.
• T8 – After Andrew MacNeil reached on an infield single, Kyle Ball doubled to the corner at left. Both runners scored on a throwing error by Rivera at second on a ground ball by Sardinas, cutting the deficit to 6-4.
• B8 – Rivera made up for his error by hitting a two-out solo homer, pushing the Gators' lead to 7-4.
• T9 – After Banks Griffith reached on the fourth Florida error of the game, Christian Pregent hit a two-run homer to cut the deficit to 7-6.

Hatters Notes

• Andrew MacNeil was hit by a pitch to start the game. It was the 11^th time he has been hit this year and the 44^th time in his career. MacNeil also scored his NCAA best 38^th run of the season in the game.
• Hylton became the first visiting player to homer twice at the new Florida Ballpark. Hylton also homered in the first game between the Hatters and Gators this year.
• Kyle Ball extended his current hitting streak to nine games with his double in the eighth inning. He has tied Hylton for the longest hitting streak this year for the Hatters.
• The double for Ball also extended his team-best streak of consecutive games reaching base to 21. The double was the 20^th of Ball's career.
• The home run by Sardinas was the 24^th of his career.
• Pregent's homer in the ninth inning was his second of the year.
• Stetson hit three home runs in a game for the third time this year, but the first time in a loss. The Hatters had three homers on opening day against Florida A&M and had three on February 26 against North Alabama.
• The 25 home runs Stetson has hit so far this year are more than the Hatters hit during the entire 2019 season (23). 

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.