JACKSONVILLE, Fla.- The Jacksonville baseball team took down the Stetson Hatters 8-6 in game two of its three game series on Saturday night.
 
"The guys have done a great job of continuing to compete through this adversity we've been facing," said head coach Chris Hayes after the game. "They've never gotten down on themselves. It was really great to see some things go our way and the guys respond after they put up the four-spot in the second. For us to come back and immediately answer and come up with big hits in big spots, it's what we needed and you knew it was coming but it was just a matter of when. I would've liked to add a little bit more, I'd like for us to keep striving to put teams away a little earlier in the game, but it was good to see them finish the way they did."
 
The Dolphins (6-12, 1-1 ASUN) used a huge second inning to erase an early four-run deficit and claim their first conference win of the season. Blake Edmonds, Aidan Masters, and Cade Hentz each had multi-hit games, and Josh Steidl added a season-high four RBI en route to JU's first win of the conference slate.
 
Peyton Prescott (1-1) started on the mound for the Dolphins and, after surrendering four runs in the second, finished the game with five innings pitched and three strikeouts. After the second frame, the freshman only allowed two base runners throughout the next three innings, and none got past first base.
 
"For Prescott, he's a special one," added Hayes. "He was beat around in the second and then to respond and give us a really good five innings, after we answered, it was huge. It's an indication of what kind of competitor and talent Peyton is."
 
Stetson struck first in the top half of the second inning with a home tee run from Labrador. The Hatters scored thrice more off a walk, double, and subsequent singles to see their lead up to 4-0.
 
The Dolphins responded with a six-spot in the bottom half of the inning. Aidan Masters started things off with a double, and Chandler Howard and Conner Spellman walked to load the bases with one out. Cade Hentz then hit a soft liner to center field and advanced all the Dolphins one base. Will Gale reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Howard, and cutting the Hatters lead in half. Blake Edmonds then stepped to the plate and hit an RBI single to get JU within one. After Justin Nadeau was hit by the pitch to reload the bases, Josh Steidl hit a ball off the top of the wall in center field and cleared the bases just as fast to give JU a 6-4 lead at the end of the second inning.
 
Jacksonville added to its lead two frames later in the fourth. Gale was hit by a pitch and stole second shortly after, but the SB wasn't a need as Nadeau ripped a triple to deep right-center field to score Gale. Josh Steidl then hit a sacrifice fly to get JU's lead back up to 8-4.
 
Stetson chipped away at the Dolphin lead though. First in the sixth inning, a pair of singles got the Hatters on base, and a deep fly ball advanced a runner for the Hatters to have runners on the corners. Jones, who was on first, got caught in a rundown on a pickoff attempt and was eventually tagged out, but not before the Stetson baserunner scored from third to make it 8-5. In the eighth inning, a trio of singles from the visitors had the bases loaded with just one out. Isaac Williams, who entered midway through the eighth, got the next Hatter batter to fly out for a sacrifice fly, but the damage stopped there as the redshirt freshman struck out Moran to end the threat. Williams returned for the ninth and sat down the three Hatters he faced to clinch his second save of the season.
 
The win marked Coach Hayes' 200th of his career; all 200 wins have been as the head coach of the Dolphins.
 
"For me, it's just another one," finalized Hayes. "I'm just glad that this group was able to get back on the good side of things, and hopefully we'll win the series tomorrow."

UP NEXT

Game three of the JU versus Stetson series is tomorrow, March 17. First pitch is slated for 1 pm and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.