Freshman Yohann Dessureault returned to the starting lineup for Stetson on Tuesday afternoon and picked up right where he left off in a 12-1 Stetson victory over visiting Maine to complete a two-game mid-week sweep at Melching Field.

Dessureault has been working to come back from a turf toe injury that kept him out of the starting lineup for the last two weeks. In his first at bat back in the lineup, he laced a two-run double to plate the first runs of the game for the Hatters. After hitting a fly ball to deep center in his second at bat, the freshman blasted a two-run homer in his third trip to plate.

It was the second home run of the game for the Hatters, who came in having hit just one homer in the first 16 games of the season. Graduate Kyle Ball doubled that total with his two-run shot in the third inning.

Junior Danny Garcia (2-1) started on the mound and picked up the win for Stetson (12-5), which has now won seven straight games. The right-hander went five innings, giving up one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Sophomore Austin Amaral followed up by throwing two scoreless innings while allowing no hits, running his streak of hitless innings to seven. Jonathan Velazquez and Nick Chiseri closed out the game, each with a perfect inning.

The Hatters got on the scoreboard early once again, starting in the second inning against Maine starter Colin Fitzgerald (0-2). Stetson's offense put up six runs, including the two-run double off the bat of Dessureault. Jake Bullard followed with a run-scoring single before Daniel Labrador doubled home another run. Cameron Hill closed on the scoring in the frame with an RBI single.

The Black Bears (3-11) scored their only run in the third after Parkland, Fla., native John Schulefand opened the frame with a ground-rule double. He came in to score on a double-play ground ball.

Ball's two-run homer in the third pushed the Stetson lead to 8-1 and then Dessureault made it 10-1 with his two-run blast in the fifth. Both homers came off Maine relief pitcher Andrew Ruggiero. 

The Hatters added a run in the sixth when sophomore Dylan Brazil drew a bases loaded walk. Sophomore Camden Traficante came across to score the final run of the game on a ground ball double play.

Stetson will have a little extra time to get ready for the start of the real season, which happens on Friday night when the Hatters host Florida Gulf Coast in the ASUN opener for both teams. The Eagles are off to a 12-4 start to the season and have a non-conference game scheduled against North Dakota State on Wednesday night before making the trip to DeLand for the weekend series.

This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.