Coral Gables, Fla. – Sophomore Camden Traficante had a career night at the plate, banging out five hits and reaching base six times as the visiting Hatters stunned No. 3 Miami 12-4 at Mark Light Field Tuesday night.
The win for Stetson (19-21) snapped a six-game losing skid this year and gave the Hatters their first victory in Coral Gables since the 1997 season, which was before any member of the current Stetson team was even born.
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The Hatters pounded out a season-high 19 hits in the game, the most in a game in more than five years. Stetson had a pair of 20-hit games (against Florida and NJIT) in March of 2017. The loss for Miami (31-10) was the Hurricanes' second straight and was their fifth in non-conference play this year.
Every starter in the Stetson lineup had at least one hit in the game with the exception of leadoff hitter Cam Hill. The bottom third of the order — Yohann Dessureault, Christian Pregent and Kyle Ball — did the majority of the damage against seven Miami pitchers. That trio combined to go 8-for-10 at the plate with two doubles, a triple and a homer to drive in seven runs.
On the flip side, the trio of Jonathan Gonzalez (4-5), Danny Garcia and Dominic Stagliano combined to hold the Miami attack to just two earned runs while striking out 13. Gonzalez started and worked five innings, allowing single runs in the third and fourth. Garcia, pitching for the first time since April 8, allowed a pair of unearned runs over two innings with five strikeouts.
Stagliano took it home over the last two frames, allowing just one hit with four Ks.
Stetson got on the board against Miami starter Jake Garland (6-2) in the second inning when Pregent delivered a two-out double to score Dessureault all the way from first.
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The Hatters then put together a big inning in the third, scoring five runs on five hits while chasing Garland from the game. Brandon Hylton and Juan Correa both singled home runs before Pregent delivered a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. Ball followed with a two-run triple to right center to give the Hatters a 6-0 lead.
Miami got on the board in the home half of that inning after a pair of infield singles. A fly out and a ground out scored the run. Zach Levenson hit a solo homer in the fifth to cut the Stetson lead to 6-2.
Stetson got those two runs back in the fifth and then added two more in the sixth inning. Ball delivered the big blow in the fifth with a two-out, two-run double. Nick DiPonzio and Hylton had run-scoring hits in the sixth inning.
Miami got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a Stetson error, but the Hatters responded again, scoring a run in the seventh on Traficante's fifth hit, and another in the eighth on Pregent's third homer of the year.
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The Hatters will look to build some momentum off Tuesday's victory when they return home to Melching Field to open a three-game series against Liberty on Friday. Game times for the weekend are set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon on Sunday.
Before the Saturday game, the Hatters will recognize the 2022 seniors.
