A record crowd of 2,975 fans at Melching
Field watched Stetson (18-7) notch a 4-3 victory over Florida (11-13) on Tuesday night. The
Hatters plated three runs in the opening stanza and rode outstanding pitching
from freshman Robby Donovan to collect their second-straight win over the
Gators. The right-hander worked a career-high 6.1 innings, allowing six hits
and two runs, to register his first collegiate victory and junior Robbie Elsemiller threw two scoreless innings to nail down his
ninth save. Five different players had two hits for the hosts, while freshman Cole Figueroa (Tallahassee, Fla.)
went 3-for-4 for UF.
The Hatters reached freshman Clint Franklin (Orlando,
Fla.) (0-1), who was making
his starting debut, for three runs on four hits in the first inning. Senior
Shane Jordan led off with a double into the right-field corner and was driven
in by a two-bagger from junior Josh Clendenin. A base-hit by senior Braedyn Pruitt left Stetson with runners on the corners and
junior Justin Bass lofted a sacrifice fly to right field for a 2-0 lead. Franklin struck out rookie
Aaron Crittenden but a wild pitch allowed Pruitt to move down to second. Moments
later, sophomore Brian Pruitt poked an RBI double to put the hosts ahead by
three runs.
UF got on the board in the second against Donovan following
a leadoff triple by senior Brian Leclerc (Clearwater, Fla.),
who scored on a grounder by classmate Chris
Petrie (Jacksonville, Fla.). Stetson then seized a 4-1 lead in
the bottom of the frame on two hits and a wild pitch. Freshman Ryan Puskar started things off with a single into left and was
sacrificed over by classmate Kevin Johnson. Jordan drew a walk for a pair of
runners aboard and Clendenin’s fielder’s choice left the Hatters with first and
third base occupied. A wild pitch scored Puskar and
pushed Clendenin to second before Braedyn Pruitt
scorched a single. The rookie right-hander worked out of further trouble by
inducing a foul pop-up by Bass.
Freshman Tony
Davis (Cooper City,
Fla.)
replaced Franklin (3.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 2 K) in the fourth and retired the first
four Hatters he faced. Back-to-back one-out singles by Crittenden and Brian
Pruitt in the fifth forced a Gator pitching change, as junior Josh Edmondson (LaGrange, Ga.)
came out of the bullpen. Senior Matt LaPorta (Port
Charlotte, Fla.)
made a leaping grab on a line drive by sophomore Jeremy Cruz and dove to beat
the runner back to the bag for an unassisted double play to hold the margin at
4-1.
Petrie’s one-out double in the seventh ended an
impressive outing by Donovan. Over 6.1 innings, the rookie right-hander yielded
six hits, three to Figueroa, with three K and two walks. Senior Chris Ingoglia, the reigning Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week,
plunked freshman pinch hitter Jonathan Pigott (Ormond Beach, Fla.)
for two runners aboard and junior Jon
Townsend (London, Ky.) roped an RBI single to right field
for a 4-2 count. Not only did Townsend move down to second on the relay throw,
it ended the reliever’s brief stint in favor of sophomore Jake Hitchcock.
Junior Bryson Barber’s (Pensacola, Fla.)
pinch-hit grounder pulled UF within 4-3 and Hitchcock kept the Hatters in
front with a critical strikeout of LaPorta that
stranded Townsend 90 feet away.
The Gators’ bid to tie the game in the eighth fell
by the wayside on a bizarre inning-ending double play. Senior Austin Pride (Longwood, Fla.)
legged out an infield hit off Elsemiller with one
down in the eighth and Leclerc delivered a single for
his fourth-straight multiple-hit game. Sophomore Cody Neer (Orlando, Fla.)
flew out to center and Pride moved over to third. Elsemiller
took the mound, threw over to second and Pride was ruled out for not tagging
up.
Stetson had a 12-9 advantage in hits, as its top
three hitters were a combined 6-for-13. The Gators resume Southeastern
Conference action on Friday night with the opener of a three-game series at No.
21 Auburn (18-6/0-3 SEC). The game will be carried live on FSN at 7 p.m.
-UF-
