Prior to Tuesday night's game at Melching Field, the Stetson baseball team had some heart-to-heart talks, amongst themselves and with the coaching staff.
The theme of those meetings was that the Hatters, who had lost four straight games, needed to play harder.
If Tuesday's 6-3 victory over South Florida was any indication, the message sank in.
“After the weekend we had, we needed to make a statement,” senior captain Tyler Bocock said. “We talked about playing hard, and that is what we did.”
Hatters head coach Pete Dunn echoed Bocock's sentiment.
“The main thing was that we need to play with more intensity, more of a sense of urgency,” Dunn said. “We have to run every ball out as hard as we can and create a high-energy approach. I think we had gotten away from that. We did it early, but we certainly didn't do it that last game at Creighton.
“We had to refocus on how we approach the game. There is some correlation between losing games and not playing up to our capabilities.”
The Hatters (15-15) still had to battle from behind to win the game. USF (20-9-1) took a lead in the second inning off Stetson starter Adam Schaly thanks to a two-run double by Andres Leal. The lead grew to 3-0 in the fourth when Luke Maglich hit the first pitch of the inning out to right for his third homer of the year.
“We got behind again, 3-0, and things weren't going real well,” Dunn said. “Then we put up that big five spot. If we are going to be the kind of team we can be, we can't keep getting behind the eight ball and having to play catch up. Until we get to that point, we have to be successful playing catch up.”
The Hatters' five-run fourth inning off USF starter Brandon Lawson (0-2) was the fifth time this year Stetson has scored five or more runs in an inning. The big inning started when John Fussell blasted his first homer of the season just to the left of dead center field.
Lawson appeared set to get out of the inning without further damage after recording the second out of the frame, but Kevin Fagan and Will Mackenzie both worked walks before Bocock lined a double into the right-field corner, scoring both for a 4-3 Stetson lead.
“We just needed something to get us going,” Bocock said. “Fussell got it started with the home run, but Kevin and Will kept it going and I just happened to be the one that put us ahead. For this team, if could have been anyone.”
Corey Reid followed with a double to plate Bocock, giving the Hatters a 5-3 lead.
“That two-run homer was huge,” Dunn said of Fussell's blast. “We really hadn't done much and he hit one out to get us right back in the game. Then we were able to piggy-back on that.
“We know Bo has been struggling, but we also know he can be a very productive hitter. He got the big double to give us the lead then he had a sacrifice fly to add to it.”
Bocock added that sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to pick up his third RBI of the game.
On the mound, it was the Stetson bullpen that shut the Bulls down over the final five innings of play. Frankie Romano picked up his first collegiate victory by coming on in the fifth inning with two on and two out. He got that out and then one in the sixth before giving way to Tyler Keller.
“What can you say about the bull pen, especially Romano and Keller,” Dunn said. “That was a tremendous performance. Frankie came in and got us out of a jam and then Tyler came in and they didn't do anything against him.”
Keller worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing just one base-runner, that coming on an error. Tyler Warmoth came on to get the final out in the eighth and then worked around two singles in the ninth to close the game for his third save of the year.
“That was a really good win and we needed that coming in with a four-game losing streak,” Dunn said. “Against a good club that has been really hot and beating good people, it was a good win. We didn't play one of our better defensive games, but we were able to overcome that.
“I thought today was a key game because we needed to prove something to ourselves and get refocused and then carry that into Thursday's game. You hope that they understand. We didn't play our best game, but we overcame some mistakes because we played hard and guys stepped up in key situations.”
Vance Vizcaino had two hits in the game, his fifth straight game with two hits, to extend his hitting streak to seven games. For USF, Kevin Murrell, Levi Borders, Maglich and Leal had two hits each.
The Hatters now turn their full attention to the start of Atlantic Sun Conference play. Stetson will open against Kennesaw State on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. The Owls (15-13) took two of three from USC Upstate to open league play last week.
