The Stetson Hatters baseball team will play its final home game tonight at Melching Field before embarking on a two-week road trip that will include stops in Jacksonville, Gainesville, Fort Myers and Coral Gables.
 
Stetson will be trying to avoid falling to Volusia County rival Bethune-Cookman for a third time this year. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on HatterVision's YouTube Channel with Messod Bendayan on the call.
 
Stetson has only been swept in a season series by the Wildcats one time, in 1995, and that was a two-game season series. Stetson has lost three games to Cookman in the same season twice, in 2007 and again in 2010, but the Hatters also earned wins over the Wildcats during those years.
 
Stetson leads the all-time series against Cookman 77-25. The teams first met in 1981. The longest win-streak for the Wildcats in the history of the series is three games, a mark the Hatters hope to prevent them from matching.
 
For the Hatters to stop their overall four-game skid they will look to the past. It has been 766 days since Stetson's Daniel Paret has taken the mound in a game for the Hatters. The 2019 ASUN Freshman of the Year and former freshman All-American has struggled with injuries, having made one appearance since that fantastic first year.
 
In 2019, Paret had a 5-4 record for the Hatters with a 3.61 ERA while working a team-high 94.2 innings. He set the program record for most strikeouts by a freshman with 102 and held opposing hitters to a .219 average.
 
The following season, Paret didn't make his first, and only, appearance until March 7 when he threw seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit with 11 strikeouts, in a no decision against Fairfield. Tonight he will return in hopes of sparking the Hatters to a victory.
 
Paret will be on a short leash tonight, working just one or two innings if everything goes well. He'll likely be followed by sophomore Jonathan Gonzalez, who did not pitch against Kennesaw State over the weekend.
 
The Hatters struggled offensively against the Owls, scoring just four runs on 13 hits in the series, getting swept in a home series for the second time this year. It was just the second time in the history of the series that KSU has swept a three-game series from the Hatters.
 
The four runs over three games were the fewest for a Stetson team since 2019 when the Hatters scored just two runs in a three-game set at Jacksonville.
 
The Hatters will embark on their longest stretch of road games this season on Thursday afternoon at Sessions Stadium in Jacksonville. The game against JU are scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday.
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. Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.