No. 23 Stetson Rolls Past 'Dogs, 11-2, Thursday Night
April 05, 2007 | Baseball
DELAND, Fla. - Gardner-Webb had no answer at the plate for
Stetson ace Corey Kluber, and the 23rd-ranked Hatters provided
plenty of offensive support to beat GWU, 11-2, Thursday night.
Kluber (7-0) wasn't challenged, allowing just two hits and an
unearned run in 7.0 innings of work (seven strikeouts).
Gardner-Webb managed just four hits in the game, with Joey Testa's
RBI double in the ninth the lone extra base knock.
After posting a 4-1 lead through three innings, Stetson (24-9, 8-2
A-Sun) plated six unearned runs down the stretch to blow open the
game.
The Hatters got their first run in the bottom of the second, with
Justin Bass singling up the middle and scoring on a long RBI double
by Jeremy Cruz. A one-out triple off the wall by No. 9 hitter Kevin
Johnson plated Cruz for a 2-0 lead, but Bulldog starter Taylor
Brooks recovered to limit the damage, fanning leadoff man Shane
Jordan and getting a groundout to end the inning.
Gardner-Webb (13-20, 3-7 A-Sun) got a run back in the top of the
third, using its speed to cut the Hatters' lead to 2-1. Jon Ahearn
coaxed a one-out walk, moved to second on a balk, took third on a
failed pickoff attempt and scored on an RBI squeeze but by Shea
Harris.
Stetson pushed its lead to 3-1 quickly, however, as Braedyn Pruitt
belted his eighth home run of the season on Brooks' first pitch in
the bottom of the third. A two-out Texas Leaguer by Josh Clendenin
with runners on the corners pushed the lead to 4-1 before Brooks
could work out of the inning.
The wheels fell off for Gardner-Webb in the bottom of the fourth,
with a one-out error, a hit batter and a two-out walk by reliever
Webster Beal providing the fuel. A three-run triple by Bass -¬
¬and a throwing error to third that bounded into the GWU dugout
that allowed Bass to score - put Stetson on top 8-1 and effectively
sealed the win.
Stetson added two unearned runs in the sixth and a solo home run by
Cruz in the eighth for its final runs. Jeremiah Lokken legged out
an infield single and scored on Testa's double in the ninth for the
final margin.
The bottom four batters in the Hatters' batting order combined for
11 of the teams' 14 hits, with Bass (three RBI) and Cruz (four RBI)
each going 4-for-5 at the dish.
Brooks (0-2) took the loss for GWU, allowing four earned runs and
eight hits through 3.2 innings of work. Testa, Jay McConnell,
Justin Loyd and Lokken collected Gardner-Webb's only four hits in
the game.
Both teams will meet again in Game Two on Friday night at 7 pm
ET.
| BOX SCORE: #23 Stetson 11, GWU 2 |
