Hatters Return Home to Host 4-Game Set vs Harvard

Baseball-FacStaffAppreciation copyAfter spending much of their time on buses and planes over the last week, the Stetson baseball team will return to the friendly confines of Melching Field this weekend for a four-game series against Harvard.

Friday’s game, which is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start, is Faculty/Staff Appreciation night. Woody O’Cain, executive director of Alumni Engagement, will be on hand to throw out the first pitch.

On Saturday, the Hatters will hold their annual Military Appreciation Day. Active and retired military personnel will receive a complimentary general admission ticket on game day at the Melching Field box office by showing their military ID or organization affiliation. General Admission guest tickets will also be available and may be purchased at the discounted group ticket rate of only $6 per seat.

Representatives of the Wounded Warrior Project will be on hand as guests of the Stetson Baseball program and will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the 4 p.m. start of the double-header.

Sunday’s series finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch.

Watch Hatters Sports Live on Hatter Vision

The Hatters, who have lost five of their last seven outings, will be looking to get things turned around over the next two weeks with eight of nine games scheduled at home.

That stretch opens against a Harvard (5-3) club that has already demonstrated its abilities on the road this year. The Crimson opened the season by splitting a four-game series at Wofford. Then, last week, they sent the Hatters a clear message by winning three of four games at former Atlantic Sun Conference rival Mercer.

After struggling offensively against Wofford, scoring just seven runs in the series, the Crimson broke out the bats against the Bears, scoring 25 runs in taking that series in Macon.

Harvard is led by senior shortstop Jake McGuiggan with a .385 batting average through eight games.

The series will be a homecoming for six members of the Harvard squad who are native Floridians. As a squad, the Crimson are from all over the nation, with 14 states having representation on the 30-man squad.

For the Hatters, the focus will be on getting off to a good start in each of the games and cutting down on strikeouts, which have become an issue of late.

Stetson pitchers have an 11.12 ERA in the first inning of games this year, which is part of the reason why the Hatters have found themselves trailing is so many games. Through the rest of the innings, the Hatters have a combined 3.31 ERA.

On the offensive side, the Hatters have seen the number of strikeouts spike over the last three games, averaging 12 per game. Overall, Stetson hitters are averaging 6.41 strikeouts per game, but the recent spike has the Hatters coaches concerned.

Stetson will continue to tinker with the pitching rotation this weekend, in search of some consistency in the absence of sophomore Mitchell Jordan. Freshman Brooks Wilson (4-1) will get the ball in the series opener and will square off against junior left-hander Sean Poppen (1-1).

On Saturday the Crimson will have right-handers Nick Gruener (1-0) and Matt Timoney (2-0) on the mound to face off with a pair of Stetson left-handers – freshman Ben Onyshko (0-0) and junior Adam Schaly (2-2).

Sunday’s game will pit Stetson junior Evin Lynch (0-2) against Harvard senior Tanner Anderson (0-0). Anderson, a Tampa native, has served in the role of closer for the Crimson so far this year and has three saves.

HATTERS QUICK HITTERS

  • The seven runs the Hatters allowed in the first inning on Wednesday night at Miami were the most Stetson has allowed in any inning this year. Only once in 2014, on May 17 at USC Upstate, did the Hatters allow as many as seven runs in any inning.
  • The last time a Stetson team allowed that many run in the first inning of a game was May 8, 2013, against Florida State when the Seminoles had an eight-run first.
  • Junior Evin Lynch became the second Hatters starter this year to not survive the first inning. He allowed all seven Miami runs on Wednesday, surrendering six hits and walk without retiring a batter.
  • Another junior, Adam Schaly, had the same kind of start on Feb. 14, allowing five runs on five hits in the first while retiring just one hitter.
  • The Hatters went down on strikes 14 times in the game at Miami, marking the second time in three games the Stetson hitters have struck out that many times. Prior to the 14 K outing at Ole Miss last Saturday, the most recent game in which the Hatters struck out at least 14 times was on March 19, 2010, against Chris Sale and Florida Gulf Coast, who had 15 Ks.
  • Freshman Charlie Watters made his collegiate debut in the game at Miami. The Hatters have had all six true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen all see action in games.
  • The only player on the roster who has yet to play in a game this year is junior outfielder Jake Pequignot, who played in 15 games in 2014.
  • Senior Kyle Pitts is 4-for-8 at the plate over the last three games, with three doubles.
  • With five home runs on the year, Patrick Mazeika has doubled his career total of five from his first two years. He currently ranks 13th in the nation in home runs.
  • The Hatters are currently ranked 12th in the nation in doubles with 38. Wake Forest has the national lead with 50.

For more Hatters baseball stories, visit GoHatters.com.

by Ricky Hazel