DELAND, Fla. -- Stetson freshman Juan Correa has worked his way into the Hatters' lineup by swinging the bat well over the last two weeks. His two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning got Stetson back into Friday night's series-opener against North Florida at Melching Field, and he then raced home with the go-ahead run, sparking the Hatters to a 5-3 victory.

Stetson improved to 15-10 overall but, more importantly, 3-4 in ASUN play with the victory. UNF falls to 9-18 overall, 1-6 in league play.

Junior Danny Garcia made his first appearance on the mound in more than two weeks and showed his old form by punching out six North Florida hitters over three innings of work to earn a save and secure the win for starter Nick Durgin (1-1).

Garcia came on the open the seventh inning and, after a runner reached base on a fielding error, he struck out the next three Ospreys with a devastating array of breaking balls and off-speed pitches. He did the same in the eighth inning after the first two UNF hitters singled and a sacrifice bunt moved the runners into scoring position. Garcia sent the next two Ospreys back to the dugout in frustration after they flailed at his breaking ball.

Durgin, making his third start, looked closer to the Nick Durgin of old. He allowed a pair of singles in the first inning to score a run and gave up back-to-back extra-base hits in the third as two scored, but had the Ospreys chasing his slider most of the night.

After UNF took the lead in the opening half inning, the Hatters answered with a run off Ospreys starter Max McKinley in the bottom of the frame. Cameron Hill reached to open the game when he was hit by a pitch. He moved up on a single by Anthony DeFabbia and then stole third before scoring on a ground ball double play.

McKinley kept the Hatters at bay over the next four innings, but surrendered a two-out single to Andrew Estrella in the sixth before walking Brandon Hylton. UNF called on reliever Jason Gonzalez (2-2) and Correa greeted him with a line double off the wall in left. Hylton raced all the way around from first to score on a bang-bang play at the plate as the ball got away from UNF catcher Dallen Leach. 

Sophomore Camden Traficante followed  with his second hit of the game to score Correa with the go-ahead run.

Stetson added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Estrella, who singled off reliever Ryan Jean to open the inning, came in score on a squeeze bunt by Connor Kehl. Leach grabbed the ball in front of the plate and dove toward Estrella, but lost control of the ball on the tag attempt.

Estrella, Correa and Traficante had two hits each in the game for Stetson. Hill had a bunt single in the sixth inning to extend his hit streak to 12 games. UNF got two hits each from Isaiah Byars, Abraham Sequera and Cade Westbrook as both teams finished the night with nine hits.

The series is scheduled to continue on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. but the forecast is calling for heavy rain and thunderstorms throughout the day. Watch for updates to the schedule on GoHatters.com and on Twitter @StetsonBaseball.

This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.

About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS.

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