Freshman Dominic Stagliano had a great outing on the hill on Friday night in his first collegiate start, helping the Hatters pick up the 7-1 victory against Sacred Heart in the series opener against the Pioneers.

The quality outing from Stagliano (1-0) earned him the win on the mound for Stetson (5-4). The right-hander went 6.2 innings, giving up one unearned run on four hits, allowing no walks and striking out six. Freshman Zane Coppersmith and sophomore Jonathan Velazquez also pitched well, closing out the final 2.1 innings with each recording a strikeout.

At the plate, the Hatters were paced by senior Kyle Ball, who went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBI. Senior Nick DiPonzio came back from a leg injury to give the Hatters a boost as well, going 2-for-4 with a double. Sophomore Jake Bullard also had a hit in three trips and drove in a run.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Both Stagliano and Sacred Heart starter Chase Jeter (0-2) worked three scoreless innings to open the game. The Pioneers (1-6) broke that string with an unearned run in the fourth as the result of a Stetson throwing error. Trailing 1-0, the Hatters got consecutive singles to start the home fourth from DiPonzio and Daniel Labrador. After a ground ball moved the runners into scoring position, a walk loaded the bases for Ball, who ripped a hit to left-center to plate a pair of runs.

The Pioneers then committed a costly mistake themselves, allowing two more Stetson runs to cross on a throwing error that should have produced the final out of the inning.

DiPonzio led off the fifth with a double and came in to score on a sacrifice fly to make it 5-1 in the fifth. The Hatters added another run in the sixth when Ball reached on an error, stole second ad scored on a pinch-hit single by Juan Correa. Ball also got things started for Stetson in the eighth, reaching on a ground ball up the middle, stealing second and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Anthony DeFabbia.

UP NEXT

For Sacred Heart, Saturday means a date with Bethune-Cookman at 2 p.m. The Hatters will then tangle with the county-rival Wildcats Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Sunday's slate will begin with game two between the Pioneers and the Wildcats at 11 a.m. before Stetson and Sacred Heart play again at 3 p.m.

All of the games this weekend will be broadcast on Stetson's YouTube Channel, HatterVision.