DELAND, Fla. -- Junior Banks Griffith chose the right time of the year to get hot as he collected four hits, including a pair of doubles, to help propel Stetson pastĀ Jacksonville 5-3 on Thursday night to open the final ASUN series of the 2022 season.
Griffith has 11 hits in his last 17 at bats (.647), including a bunt single in the Hatters' two-run fourth inning to help break a 1-1 tie and give the Hatters a lead they would never give back. Griffith doubled home another run in the fifth inning for his 100th career hit then had another double in the eighth.
The four-hit night for Griffith came in support of freshman Dominic Stagliano (5-0). The right-hander made just his thirdĀ startĀ of the year on the mound and went 7.0 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits as the Hatters improved toĀ 25-28 overall and 9-19 in ASUN play, keeping their hope of earning a spot in next weeks' ASUN Tournament alive.
After sophomore left-hander Jonathan Gonzalez came on the pitch the eighth inning to put the Dolphins (26-24, 12-15) down, redshirt sophomore Nick Durgin came on the ninth to close out the win andĀ earn his second save of the week.
JU jumped on top in the very first inning when Chase Malloy led off the game with a triple and came in to score on a single by Christian Coipel. Stagliano bounced back, retiring eight straight, and 14-of-15, before Malloy led off the sixth with a double.
Stetson answered the Dolphins first-inning run with one of its own when Cam Hill led off the home half of the inning with a double off JU starter Mason Adams, moved up on a wild pitch and then scored on a Jakob Bullard single.
The game remained tied until the fourth inning when Heston Mosley (2-4) came in to pitch for JU and allowed a walk to Yohann Dessureault before hitting Kyle Ball with a pitch. Griffith loaded the bases with his bunt single and Connor Kehl drove home the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to right. After a walk to Andrew Estrella loaded the bases, Mosely uncorked a wild pitch to score Ball from third for a 3-1 Stetson led.
The Hatters added two more runs off left-hander Tyler Naumann in the fifth inning after Christian Pregent opened the inning with a hit, Bullard drew a walk and both moved up on a wild pitch. Pregent scored on a ground out by Ball and then Griffith doubled home Bullard for a 5-1 Stetson lead.
Malloy cashed in his leadoff double in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Elias Flowers, but was unable to threaten again until the ninth. Coipel led off with a hit off Gonzalez, moved up on a ground out to first and then went to third on a hit by Tommy Joseph. Durgin got the call and got a pair of fly ball outs, with the first going as a sacrifice fly, to end the game.
In addition to Griffith'sĀ four hits, Bullard had a pair of hits andĀ a walk.
Stetson got some help in the race for the ASUN Tournament with FGCU winning its opening game at North Florida, but both the Hatters and Eagles will need to keep winning for Stetson to earn a trip to Fort Myers.
They go for a game two win on Friday morning, with the game time moved to 10 a.m. to avoid the thunderstorms that are expected to roll through the area Friday afternoon. Saturday's regular season finale has also be moved to a 10 a.m. start.
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