DELAND, Fla. –
Kyle Colletta finished 3-for-4 from the plate and drove in one run as the Northern Kentucky University baseball team fell to Stetson University, 13-1, on Friday in Atlantic Sun Conference action at Melching Field.
Colletta was the only NKU player to record a multi-hit game as
Trey Ganns,
Logan Spurlin,
Dominic Mercurio and
Nate DeNicola recorded the other four hits for the Norse, who stranded four base runners.
Justin Watts (1-3) took the loss for the Norse, surrendering three runs on four hits in two innings of work. He struck out two batters and walked two.
Aric Harris retired the Hatters in order in the bottom of the eighth for a perfect inning of relief for NKU, which fell to 11-22 overall and 0-7 in the Atlantic Sun.
Stetson, which improved to 20-19 on the year and 5-2 in the conference, opened the game's scoring with a pair of runs in the first inning. A Patrick Mazeika RBI single followed a Cory Reid lead-off single and Vance Vizcaino double, allowing Reid to score. Vizcaino then came home as John Fussell reached on a fielder's choice to give Stetson a 2-0 lead.
Mazeika recorded his second RBI of the game in the third inning, bringing Vizcaino home with a single up the middle. Tyler Bocock's fourth inning double scored Will Mackenzie for a 4-0 Stetson advantage before the Hatters struck for five runs in the fifth to break the game open.
NKU got on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh.
Mike Moffatt sparked the offense when he reached base on a passed ball after striking out. Ganns followed with a single to left field, and Spurlin loaded the bases with a single to left-center field. Colletta drove Moffatt home with the third consecutive Norse single to cut the deficit to 9-1.
The Hatters, however, answered in the bottom half of the inning with four runs on four hits and one error for the final margin of the game.
Vizcaino led the way offensively for Stetson, which finished with 14 hits and left six runners on base, going 3-for-4 with one double, one triple, one RBI and three runs scored. Bocock finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored, while Mazeika went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs.
Mitchell Jordan (3-1) allowed one unearned run on five hits in the Stetson victory, and he struck out six batters and walked one over seven innings of work. Kevin Fagan struck out three batters and scattered two hits in two scoreless innings of relief for the Hatters.
NKU and Stetson return to action for the second game of the series on Saturday. First pitch from Melching Field has been pushed back to 4 p.m. from the originally scheduled 2 p.m. start time. Links to live stats and John Asalon's audio broadcast are available at NKUNorse.com. Fans can track the game's progress on Twitter by following @NKUNorseGameDay as well.
