DELAND, Fla. – Jacksonville University baseball struggled to get the bats going, falling 5-0 to Stetson on Friday night at Melching Field.
 
The Dolphins (7-28, 0-13) were held to just two hits, and were shut-out in the series opener.
 
The Hatters got on the board early. A leadoff single came around to score after a wild pitch and a ground out moved the runner down to third, and he came in on a two-out single to center to give Stetson an early 1-0 lead.
 
The Dolphins got runners on in the first via an error and the third via a two-out single, but struggled to move men into scoring position.
 
Tyler Santana settled in to a rhythm after the early run, sitting down nine of 10 he faced consecutively from the end of the first until the fourth. Stetson hit a two-out solo homer to extend the lead to 2-0 to end Santana's stretch of success.
 
The Hatters separated in the fifth. A one-out double was followed by an eight-pitch walk. With two outs, a bases clearing double to center extended the lead to 4-0.
 
The Dolphins put the leadoff man on in the seventh via a walk, but were unable to advance him into scoring position. In the bottom half, Stetson scored its final run of the night, thanks to a second solo homer run of the evening.
 
JU got a leadoff single in the ninth from Jesus Pacheco, but a strikeout, groundout and flyout ended the game.
 
ON DECK
 
Jacksonville tries to even the series tomorrow vs. Stetson. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
 
THREE STRIKES
 

• Tyler Santana struck out three Hatters, and moved into a tie with Michael Baumann for most career strikeouts with 251
• Ruben Someillan's single in the third extended his on-base streak to all 35 games JU has played this year
• Jackson Grabsky started his first career game at shortstop