DeLand, Fla. ? The Stetson softball team (41-22) scored five runs with two out in the bottom of the sixth, rallying to a 5-2 victory over Florida Atlantic (35-24) Sunday at Patricia Wilson Field.  The Hatters, winners of three straight and four out of their last five, took advantage of an error and then got four straight base hits to win on Senior Day in the regular season finale for both squads.

Stetson trailed 2-0 four outs away from defeat and nobody on base when junior left fielder Amanda Bailey (Destin, Fla.) drew a walk.  Sophomore designated player Amanda Lindsey (Byhalia, Miss.) did the same to bring junior shortstop Leo Carre?o (Miami, Fla.) to the plate.  She hit a grounder that appeared likely to end the inning but the ball went through the legs of FAU shortstop Blair Bodenmiller, allowing Bailey to score.

Senior right fielder Amy Peters (Niceville, Fla.) came up with a clutch hit in her final regular season at-bat, dropping a single over Bodenmiller's head to plate freshman pinch runner Katelyn Perna (St. Petersburg, Fla.) with the game-tying run.  Sophomore center fielder Amy Joyce (Lake Mary, Fla.) kept the Hatter hit parade going, singling up the middle to bring in Carre?o with what proved the winning run.  Senior second baseman Nicole Forbes (Tampa, Fla.) and junior first baseman Andrea Migliori (Winter Garden, Fla.) also added RBI singles to give Stetson a pair of insurance runs.

Junior pitcher Erica Demers (Miami, Fla.) retired the side in order in the top of the seventh to pick up her 19^th win of the season.  Demers tossed three shutout innings in relief of Lindsey, scattering two hits and a walk and fanning two.  Pine Ridge HS graduate Amber Barton suffered the loss, allowing five unearned runs on seven hits and five walks in a complete game effort.  She struck out four.

Forbes had two hits for the Hatters while DeLand HS alumna Lauren Crandall paced the Florida Atlantic attack with two doubles.  FAU center fielder Christine Houghtaling gave her team a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the top of the second; the Owls added a run in the fourth when catcher Kerri Croney's RBI sacrifice fly plated Crandall following a leadoff double.

Today's game marked the 50th all-time meeting between the Hatters and Owls; Stetson snapped a four-game losing streak to its former A-Sun rival that dated back to the 2006 A-Sun Tournament finals.

Stetson now turns its attention to the all-important Atlantic Sun conference tournament, to be held for the second consecutive year at Patricia Wilson Field May 8-10.  The defending champion Hatters are the #2 seed and will face fifth-seeded Campbell at 1 p.m. Thursday.  #3 Mercer takes on #4 ETSU at 9 a.m. to begin the six-team, double-elimination event while #1 Lipscomb squares off with #6 Gardner-Webb at 11 a.m.  Each team will play a second game that afternoon or evening; if Stetson beats Campbell then it will face the Mercer/ETSU winner at 8 p.m. and if the Hatters fall to the Camels they will meet the Lipscomb/Gardner-Webb loser in an elimination game at 4 p.m.