DeLAND, Fla. – Jacksonville hit a pair of home runs but came up short to Stetson's ninth inning rally, 4-3, Sunday at Melching Field.
"I thought we pitched well enough to win and Spencer Stockton gave us a great outing," Head Coach Tim Montez. "I made a statement yesterday that if we don't execute it could come back to bite us and it did today. We've got to be able to get the bunt down when we need to and other fundamentals, and we did not do that today."
Jacksonville (27-15) fell to 9-3 in Atlantic Sun play while Stetson (21-23) bumped to 5-7 in the conference.
"These guys know that we beat ourselves today. We've got to learn from it, and it's never too early or late in the season to learn. These guys are a mature group and will stay together with good leadership," said Montez. "We've got to come back ready to play Wednesday and with an important weekend coming up against Kennesaw State."
Stetson scored the game winner off a ninth inning error. Matt Morales walked and stole second. Vance Vizcaino hit a hard grounded to short that JJ Gould make a nice play on, but a throwing error drew first baseman Angel Camacho off the bag, and Morales sped past third and scored to snap Jacksonville's five-game win streak.
Dolphin starter Stockton lasted 6.2 innings and gave up three runs off eight hits. He did not walk a batter for the second time this season and registered three strikeouts.
Austin Hays put the Dolphins on the board with a leadoff bomb in the fourth on the first pitch of the at-bat. The home run was his conference-leading 14th of the year.
The Dolphins tied the game in the sixth thanks to two base hits. Sam Armstrong doubled with one out, and Angel Camacho followed next with an RBI single up the middle.
Nathan Koslowski gave Jacksonville the lead with a leadoff home run in the seventh. The first of the season for the junior was a long lift out to right.
The Hatters scored first on a successful double steal in the first. With runners on the corners, John Fussell stole second and Cory Reid snuck home to give the hosts an early lead. Later, Vizcaino would add to the lead with a leadoff homer in the third.
Stetson tied the game in the bottom of the inning with a two-out rally. Morales had a pinch-hit single, Vizcaino walked, and Austin Hale knotted the game at three on his RBI single to left.
Stetson reliever Kevin Fagan (1-0) got the win with two strikeouts in 1.2 innings, while Kyle Arjona (2-2) took the loss. He went 1.1 innings with one unearned run off a hit and two walks.
Jacksonville returns to action with a 6:30 p.m. start at UCF on Wednesday.
