For the second straight day, the Stetson baseball team fell victim to one bad inning. On Sunday, that inning was the seventh.
 
Jacksonville scored four times in the frame to turn a pitcher's duel into a 5-2 Dolphins victory to clinch a series win over the Hatters.
 
With the consecutive losses, the Hatters (24-16, 9-6 in ASUN play) will enter play next weekend against North Florida tied with the Ospreys for second place in the South Division, one game behind FGCU. Jacksonville, which is locked in as the No. 4 seed from the South Division, improved to 9-28 overall this year, 2-13 in ASUN play.
 
Neither team was able to get much going on Sunday as the starting pitchers – Stetson's Jovan Gill and JU's Mike Cassala – both cruised through the first six innings, both allowing one run on three hits.
 
In the seventh, JU's Christian Coipel sent Gill to the dugout with a leadoff single to right, just over the glove of Hatters' second baseman Jorge Arenas. Redshirt sophomore Danny Garcia came on in relief and surrendered a single to Tommy Joseph to put two runners on with no one out.
 
The Hatters caught a break when Cory Heffron attempted a sacrifice bunt, but bunted the ball too hard, allowing Garcia to field and throw to third in time to retire Coipel. That luck went the other way when Garcia grazed the jersey of Elias Flowers with a 1-2 pitch, loading the bases with one out.
 
Dolphins' catcher Trace Burchard made that hurt, delivering a two-run single to right center to give JU a 3-1 lead. A ground ball out scored another run and the final run of the inning scored when Jesus Pacheco beat out an infield hit.
 
Stetson managed just five hits in the game and the Hatters were unable to take advantage of the six walks and two hit batters, leaving a total of nine runners on base.
 
Gill suffered the loss for Stetson despite allowing just two runs on four hits over six innings of work. Cassala got the win, allowing just one Hatters run on three hits over 6.2 innings. For the second straight day, Jagger McCoy came on from the JU pen to close out the game and earn a save.
 
The Hatters will be back in action on Tuesday night in Gainesville against Florida. Stetson has played a pair of close games against the Gators this year, dropping a 10-7 decision on March 10 and falling 7-6 on April 6. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start from the new Florida Ballpark and will be broadcast on the SEC Network Plus through the ESPN app.
 
Game Facts

• Win – Mike Cassala (2-4)
• Loss – Jovan Gill (4-2)
• Save – Jagger McCoy (3)
• Time – 3:03

Scoring Summary

• B4 – Hernen Sardinas was hit by a pitch to open the inning, moved up on consecutive ground balls and then scored on a two-out single by Nick DiPonzio for a 1-0 Stetson lead.
• T6 – JU drew even when Trace Burchard led off with an infield single, moved up on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a double by Ruben Someillan.
• T7 – JU turned four singles, a hit batter and a walk into four runs to take a 5-1 lead. Trace Burchard had the biggest blow in the inning with a two-run single.
• B9 – Arenas walked to open the inning and, after the next two hitters were retired on strikeouts, moved up to third on a two-out hit by MacNeil. McCoy came in to face Kyle Ball and uncorked a fastball for strike one that knocked the mitt off Burchard's hand, allowing Arenas to score and MacNeil, who was running on the pitch, to get to third. McCoy got Ball on a fly ball to right to end the game.

Hatters Notes

• Andrew MacNeil was hit by a pitch in the first inning to move into sole possession of second on the Stetson career list with 46. He is now two off the record of 48 set by Patrick Mazeika (2013-15).
• MacNeil finished the weekend with seven hits in 11 at bats against JU pitching while also walking twice and getting hit by a pitch.
• Sardinas was held hitless in the series finale, but reached base three times – drawing two walks and getting hit by a pitch.

 
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.