DELAND, Fla. - Thanks in part to a quality effort on the bump from senior Daniel Paret, the Stetson Hatters brought home a 7-2 win against the Kennesaw State Owls on Sunday. The win gave Stetson the series win over the Owls, their third straight series win as they now hold a 9-3 conference record and a 22-10 record overall. Sophomores Lorenzo Meola and Jayden Hylton provided five of the seven runs in the game, the latter of the two delivering a pinch-hit two-run knock with the bases load in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The solid outing from Paret earned him the victory on the mound for Stetson as the southpaw is now 4-1 on the campaign. The left-hander went 7.1 innings, giving up two runs, both of them earned, on nine hits, allowing one walk and striking out five. Senior Cole Stallings once again entered in relief to help escape a jam as he retired two batters in the top of the eighth with two men on base to keep Stetson up by one.

At the plate, the Hatters were paced by Meola, who went 1-for-2 on the day with a walk and three RBIs. Sophomore Landon Moran compiled a noteworthy day at the dish as well, going 1-for-1 with a double, two walks and an RBI. 

"It was a great weekend to take two out of the three from a very good ball club. Kennesaw is well coached and clearly a top team. Winning that series is a testament to our guys' fight and grit as there was three close ball games all weekend," said Head Coach Steve Trimper. "Really impressed by the way Paret went out today and shut the door and gave us the start that we needed and then, as we've been doing, our offense was able to capitalize on a few of their walks and their bullpen."

The Hatters put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the fifth inning. Junior Yohann Dessureault's run-scoring single highlighted a two-run inning for Stetson.

After the Owls rallied to tie the ballgame at two, the Hatters came back to retake the lead in the sixth inning. Stetson pushed across a run on Moran's two-out RBI double, which brought the Hatters lead to 3-2.

Stetson kept Kennesaw State scoreless before building their lead to 7-2 in the eighth inning. The Hatters bats heated up in the inning, scoring four runs, including a two-run single off the bat of Meola and a two-run single from Hylton. The score remained 7-2 for the rest of the game, as Stetson coasted to the win.

Paret struck out five Owls batters across 7.1 innings of two-run ball for the Hatters. As a staff, they limited Kennesaw State to just 1-for-9 (.111) with runners in scoring position while going 4-for-9 (.444) on offense. They faced 36 Kennesaw State batters in the game, forcing 11 ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out five.

Stetson will return to Melching Field on Wednesday, April 10 when they host the UCF Knights for Fire & Ice Night at 6:30 PM. The Hatters look for revenge after falling to the Knights 7-1 on the road earlier this season. All the action will be streamed to ESPN+ and live stats will be available at GoHatters.com.

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.