DELAND, Fla. - The Stetson Hatters rallied from being down as many as five runs in the sixth inning to take down the Austin Peay Governors 12-8 at Melching Field in DeLand on Friday night. It was their first home game since falling to FGCU on April 14 but the Hatters wouldn't go down without a fight in this one as they plated four runs in the bottom of the sixth before Lorenzo Meola launched Stetson in front with a three-run shot off the left field scoreboard. It was the team's 11th comeback victory and their largest comeback since rallying from a seven run deficit at home against USF on April 2.
"They're a really good team, they're leading the nation in hitting, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, they are really well coached and a hard fought team. They jumped on us early, like they've been doing all year, but the fight in our team is unbelievable, it's kinda the M.O. of this team is that they just keep fighting, they don't give up and their is a lot of calmness in these guys," said Head Coach Steve Trimper. "They just want to play hard, doesn't matter if we're up ten or down ten, we're just going to continue to play hard and move on to the next inning."
Senior Chris Shine, now 2-1, got the win out of the pen for Stetson, who is now 30-16 on the season and 15-7 in conference play. The right-hander struck out the side in a shutout inning of relief. Freshman Zane Coppersmith earned the two-inning save, his third save of the season, as he went two shutout innings while allowing one hit, walking one and striking out three.
Offensively, the Hatters were led by sophomore Lorenzo Meola, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a home run, a walk and five RBIs. It ties a career-high for him as he has now tallied five RBIs twice in the past four games. Freshman Logan Hughes put together a standout performance at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and two RBIs. Sophomore Isaiah Barkett also contributed for Stetson, putting together one hit in four trips to the plate while adding a double, a walk and two RBIs.
Trailing 5-0, the Hatters first put runs on the board in the third inning when Stetson scored twice on a two-run double off the bat of Barkett.
The Governors expanded their lead to 7-2 before the Hatters offense got back to work, cutting into that lead in the fourth. Hughes came across to score the lone run of the inning for Stetson, which brought the score to 7-3 in favor of the Governors.
Austin Peay built their lead to 8-3 before the Stetson offense finally clicked, reducing that lead to 8-7 in the sixth. The Hatters bats heated up in the inning, scoring four runs, including a one-run hbp against freshman Kyle Jones, extending his on-base streak.
Stetson kept the Governors off the board before taking the lead in the seventh. The inning resulted in three runs for the Hatters, all of them scoring on a three-run homer off the bat of Meola to left, bringing the score to 10-8 in favor of Stetson.
"That was a big time play, big time at-bat, obviously. We're down a little bit and needed a big hit right there, trying to get a sac fly or something out of that and he just jumped at the first pitch and hit a monster home run so big time player and big time play," said Trimper. "It's Division 1 Friday night baseball, this is what you get."
The Hatters held Austin Peay scoreless before expanding their lead to 12-8 the following inning. Stetson pushed two runs across on a two-run double off the bat of Hughes that plated Jones and Barkett.
While Anthony DeFabbia started on the mound, junior Dylan Jacobs went 4.1 innings and struck out seven batters as the staff combined to strike out 13 Governors.
Despite being out-hit 15-10 in the ballgame, Stetson got three-hit games from both Hughes and sophomore Landon Moran while going 5-for-11 (.455) with runners in scoring position.
The series resumes tomorrow at 6:30 PM for Star Wars Night at Melching Field. The action will once again be streamed to ESPN+ with live stats 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.
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