DELAND — Pitching and defense have carried the Stetson Hatters all season, but in Friday night’s NCAA Regional opener against the University of Hartford, it was the bats that delivered.
Brooks Wilson ripped a go-ahead double down the right-field line to break a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning, and the Hatters piled it on from there, defeating the Hawks, 8-3, in front of a sellout home crowd of 2,064 at Melching Field. The victory was the 16th in a row for Stetson.
The top-seeded Hatters (46-11), who are hosting their first regional tournament, will now face Oklahoma State at 7 tonight with a spot in the regional title game on the line. The Cowboys defeated South Florida, 9-2, early Friday afternoon.
“It’s been a great week here at DeLand, bringing a regional here,” head coach Steve Trimper said. “In my time here, this was the best crowd we’ve ever had. Hartford did a tremendous job. All in all, I’m really pleased.”
The night started as it usually does for the No. 11 Hatters — with dominant pitching. Junior Joey Gonzalez held the Hawks scoreless through four innings, and Stetson plated a run in the bottom of the fourth thanks to wild pitch by Hartford starter Nick Dombkowski.
The lead wouldn’t last long, though, as the Hawks tagged Gonzalez for three hits and a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. The second run scored courtesy of an error by third baseman Jon Meola, who saw a routine grounder kick off his glove and into left field.
As they did all night, however, the Hatters offense responded swiftly.
Jacob Koos walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and followed that up by stealing second and third base. Following a Wilson walk, freshman Eric Foggo — last week’s ASUN Player of the Tournament — ripped a single to left to tie the game at 2. Shortstop Jorge Arenas capped the inning with a blast off the center-field wall to make it a 4-3 game.
“These guys are awesome,” Trimper said. “It doesn’t matter where they are in the lineup, they’ll try and produce runs.”
Defense was Stetson’s Achilles heel again in the seventh, though, as Foggo saw a routine grounder go under his glove to begin the frame. The third error of the evening proved costly, as the Hawks’ Ashton Bardzell tied the game two batters later with his third hit of the night.
“It’s not like us,” Trimper said of the defensive struggles. “We got it all out in one game. I honestly think we were just a little out of our element.”
Wilson picked up the defense once again in the bottom of the frame, breaking the tie with a double to the right-field fence. The Hatters would tack on one more in the inning thanks to another wild pitch, and three more in the eighth to seal the victory.
“I felt pretty comfortable at the plate,” Wilson said. “It’s all about going in there with confidence and having an approach. Just going up there with an idea of what you want to do, and not try to do too much.”
Wilson finished with two doubles and a pair of RBIs, while Mike Spooner, Austin Bogart and Koos each had a hit apiece.
Gonzalez went six innings, giving up just one earned run and seven hits, while Mitchell Senger worked all three innings of relief and gave up just the one unearned run.
Ace Logan Gilbert will get the ball in tonight’s contest against the Cowboys. The righty is 10-1 this season, and sits second in the country with 143 strikeouts.
“Obviously a formidable opponent, they swung the bats really well (against USF),” Trimper said. “It’s the NCAA tournament, everybody’s pretty good. We just have to play the game, not the team. If we go out there and play the game, the wins will take care of themselves.”