ORLANDO -- Stetson swept Sunday’s double header, causing UCF’s Jay Bergman to wait for another day to reach the 1000 win plateau. Stetson hit five home runs on the afternoon, helping them to a 10-7 victory in game one a 13-3 win in game two. The Hatters victories moves them ahead of the Golden Knights into second place in the conference and gives them the 2-1 series win.
Left fielder Pete Rasmusen, who played in place of the injured Joe Kurelic swung a big bat, with three home runs on the day. Kurelic was injured in a collision in shallow left field with his short stop last night during UCF’s 14-5 victory. With the Hatters everyday catcher moving to the designated hitter position for game two, Chris Cole filled in behind the plate and contributed with two bombs of his own.
Just two innings into the day’s action, Stetson posted seven runs to give them an 8-1 lead. Freshman Taylor Cobb could not record an out in the second inning and was replaced by Bo Hall after Rasmusen went deep with a man on for his first long ball of the day. Hall did not fair much better as he surrendered two hits and bumped the walk count to five by the time the last out was made.
UCF crept back into the game, adding one in the third, three in the fourth and one in the sixth, making the score 8-6 Hatters. UCF left the tying runs on base, but were within striking range. Stetson would not be denied though as they added two in the seventh on Rasmusen’s second two run shot of the game. Jeremy Frost led off the seventh with his second homerun in as many days, but UCF could get no closer and the game ended on a fly ball to right field.
Game three was kicked off with the Knights scoring first, with two in the opening frame and one in the second. The Hatters put a quick end to UCF’s lead when they hit back-to back long balls off of Lincoln Mincks. Chris Cole hit his first of the day with two men on a two out, tying the game at three a piece. Rasmusen followed with his final trot around the bases to give Stetson the lead, which they would never relinquish.
UCF was held scoreless the rest of the way by Brian Sullivan (6-2), who gave up three runs, one earned on nine hits, while striking out nine UCF batters in a complete game effort. UCF was not as lucky as the floodgates were opened in the seventh inning. Stetson put up nine runs on six hits and took advantage of two errors, ballooning its lead from one to ten. The big blow of the inning came off of Cole’s bat when he hit his second three run shot of the game. Cole was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and six RBI’s in the game. His teammate, Rasmusen ended the day going with five RBI’s.
The Golden Knights will travel to No. 1 Florida Atlantic next week to play three games. Game one will be on Friday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. Saturday’s double header is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.
Long Ball Helps Stetson Beat UCF
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