It wasn't exactly a Kirk Gibson in the World Series moment, but when junior Patrick Mazeika stepped to the plate in the fifth inning Saturday afternoon at Melching Field, there was something special in the air.
Mazeika came straight from the locker room with the Hatters trailing Kennesaw State 5-1. Stetson athletic trainer Logan Speicher had been working with Mazeika, who has been battling a stomach bug, to get him hydrated enough to swing the bat.
Whatever Speicher was doing worked because the junior ignited the Hatters' come-from-behind victory with a three-run home run, helping Stetson to an 8-5 victory to complete a weekend sweep of the Owls. Stetson improved to 18-15 overall and 3-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference play with the win while KSU fell to 15-16 overall and 2-4 in league play.
“When I left last night it was late and he was still sitting at his locker with his head down,” Hatters coach Pete Dunn said of Mazeika. “I asked if he was OK and he said he didn't feel good. His stomach has been bothering him. I asked him this morning if he could play and he said he was OK to DH.
“The entire inning before he hit the home run he was in the locker room, in the air conditioning, and was really sick. When he came out I asked if I should hit for him. I am glad he was strong enough to go swing the bat because that was huge. He got us to within one with one swing.”
Mazeika, who had not had a hit in the series since his first at bat on Thursday, said he wasn't thinking about hitting a home run when he went to the plate.
“When I got up there, I just tried to get a good pitch to hit and he left one over the middle,” Mazeika said. “I was able to take advantage of it. I was just trying to hit the ball hard and he made a mistake. I turned on it.”
The Hatters still trailed 5-4 in the sixth inning with KSU starter Gabe Friese (3-4) still on the mound. After issuing a leadoff walk and then getting a ground out, Friese faced junior Jack Machonis, who was hitless in two previous at bats against the Owls' hurler.
Machonis quickly fell behind in the count, but got a pitch he could handle and hit a laser over the wall in left for his first homer, giving the Hatters a 6-5 lead.
“It was a slider,” Machonis said. “I had two strikes on me, so I was really just looking to put something in play. He left it up a little bit and I was able to get a good piece of it and it got up in the wind a little. When I hit it, I felt pretty good about my swing because I stayed through it well.”
Dunn said that even after Kennesaw State had its five-run fourth inning off Stetson starter Walker Sheller, he saw no sign of defeat in his club.
“From a coaching perspective, after Kennesaw scored those five runs, I looked around the dugout and sensed no concern that the game was over or that it was too much to overcome,” Dunn said. “They stayed really positive. We always say that we have to keep on grinding it out and that is what we did.”
The Owls scored all five of their runs in that fourth after Sheller, who had cruised through the first three innings with the help of a couple of double play balls, lost the strike zone. He issued consecutive walks to Kal Simmons, Taylor Allum and Chris McGowan to load the bases. Brennan Morgan drove in a run with a long single to the base of the wall in left before Chris Erwin blasted a grand slam to right.
“I think Walker tries to do too much sometimes,” Dunn said of his starter. “After Simmons got on base, he got fixated on not letting him run and then walked the next two guys. Then he had Erwin 0-2, but that has been something we haven't done well all year. We have been better, but he threw a breaking ball over the middle and they made him pay for it.”
Sheller got out of the fourth with no further damage before turning the game over to the Stetson bullpen. Like the first two games of the series, the Hatters' relievers shut the door on the Owls' offensive attack, blanking KSU over the final five innings.
“The other guys came in and held them right there,” Dunn said of the six relievers who worked the last five innings. “He (Sheller) gave up the five, and then the bull pen didn't allow another run. That was outstanding. Those guys were really good all weekend, didn't allow a run.”
Freshman Ben Onyshko (1-1) pitched two shutout innings to get his first win. After struggling with his command as a starter, he has now pitched in four straight games as a reliever without allowing an earned run.
“(Pitching coach) Chris (Roberts) has been working with Onyshko to simplify his delivery,” Dunn said. “He has too many moving parts, but he did a nice job to get the win.”
After getting the lead in the sixth on the Machonis home run, the Hatters added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning. Josh Powers doubled home Vance Vizcaino – who had two more hits in the game, running his hitting streak to 10 games and his streak of multiple-hit games to eight – and then Garrett Russini delivered a sacrifice fly to score Mazeika, who had walked.
Tyler Warmoth came on to work a perfect ninth for the Hatters, recording a pair of strikeouts, to pick up his fourth save of the year.
Vizcaino and Powers had two hits each to lead Stetson while Corey Greeson, Brennan Morgan and Erwin had two hits apiece for Kennesaw State.
“That is a good club with good pitching,” Dunn said of the Owls. “We did a good job all weekend against their pitching. The first two wins were good, but that one was really good, to come from behind the way we did.
“We owed them this because we had five losses against this club last year. That is satisfying and I know all of the guys who were here last year remember it. This is a good club that is going to be good all year. They will be in the conference tournament. This is a huge way to start conference play.”
Mazeika was happy to get some payback on Kennesaw State, but already has his sights set on the next conference foe – USC Upstate.
“They did it to us last year, so it was good to get some revenge on them,” Mazeika said. “Taking this sweep before we go up to Upstate next week, hopefully we will keep swinging the bats and pitching like we have, playing well in all facets of the game.”
But, before the trip to Spartanburg next weekend, the Hatters have a second date with nationally-ranked Florida (24-8) on Tuesday night in Gainesville. The Gators rallied late to defeat Stetson 9-6 on March 24 and the Hatters feel as if they have something to prove in the rematch.
“Now we turn out sights to Gainesville and playing up there before we go on the road to USC Upstate next weekend,” Dunn said. “Just like we felt we had something to prove to these guys (KSU), we feel like we need to go up there and show them something and get a win there.
“I can't over-emphasize how great an effort this was in all aspects. Even when we did stub our toes, all weekend we were resilient and bounced back. That is a satisfying weekend that we will enjoy through Easter Sunday before we get back to work.”
Tuesday's game in Gainesville is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
